Lynsey Sharp

Lynsey Sharp

Lynsey Sharp competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Personal information
Born	(1990-07-11) 11 July 1990 (age 26) Dumfries, United Kingdom
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb) (2014)
Sport
Country	Great Britain  Scotland
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	800 metres
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Great Britain European Championships 2012 Helsinki 800 m 2014 Zürich 800 m Representing  Scotland Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow 800 m

Lynsey Sharp (born 11 July 1990) is a Scottish track and field athlete who competes in the 800 metres. She is the 2012 European champion and represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She also won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Her personal best is 1:57.69, the third fastest time over 800m by a British woman, set in the final of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Lynsey Sharp was born in Dumfries, United Kingdom and lived her early life in nearby Lochmaben. She is the daughter of former Scottish athletes Cameron Sharp and Carol Sharp (née Lightfoot). Her father won a 1982 European silver medal in the 200 m and competed at the 1980 Olympic Games, while her mother has an 800 m best of 2:02.91 and competed at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Sharp went to The Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh. She graduated with a 2:1 in Law (LLB) from Edinburgh Napier University in 2012 a few weeks before competing in the London Olympics. She has said she was inspired to study law after her father fought a medical negligence case following permanent injuries he sustained in a road crash. She is also a fan of Scottish Premiership side Rangers.

As a teenager, Sharp competed at the IAAF World Youth Championships and IAAF World Junior Championships. In 2011, she improved her 800 m personal best by almost four seconds. In June, she took her best down from 2:04.44, to 2:02.48 in Watford then 2:01:98 in Prague. Then in July, at the European U23 Championships in Ostrava, she further improved to 2:00.65, to win a bronze medal. This would be upgraded to silver, after the 2013 disqualification of Elena Arzhakova.