Joanne Fenn
{{Short description|British musician and Olympic middle-distance runner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name= Jo Fenn
née Mersh
|image=
|caption=
|birth_date= {{Birth-date and age|19 October 1974}}
|birth_place= Leytonstone, London, England
|height= 173 cm
|weight= 57 kg
| nationality = British (English)
| sport = Athletics
| event = middle-distance
|club= Woodford Green with Essex Ladies
|turnedpro= 2001
|retired= 2008
|pb= 400m 54.57
800m 1:59.50
1500m 4:09.54
}}
Joanne Ella Fenn (née Mersh; born 19 October 1974) is an English singer-songwriter and is a former Olympic middle-distance runner.{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Jo Fenn |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fe/jo-fenn-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203043141/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fe/jo-fenn-1.html |archive-date=3 December 2016}}
Sporting career
Fenn attended Connaught School for Girls and was English schools 300m hurdles champion and later competed in the 400-metre hurdles and heptathlon. After a series of injuries she changed to the 800 metres and was a member of the Woodford Green with Essex Ladies athletic club.
Fenn finished third behind Kelly Holmes in the 800 metres event at the 2000 AAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000578/20000814/516/0027 |title=Athletics |work=Aberdeen Press and Journal |date=14 August 2000 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=4 April 2025}}
Two years later Fenn finished second behind Susan Scott at the 2002 AAA Championships{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/20020715/375/0027 |title=Weekend results - Athletics |work=The Scotsman |date=15 July 2002 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 April 2025}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=4 April 2025 }} and shortly afterwards represented England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where she ran her first sub 2-minute performance with 1:59.86..{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/manchester-2002/athletes |title=Manchester 2002 Team |website=Team England |access-date=4 April 2025 }}
In 2004 Fenn won the 800m bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary and also broke the 1000 metres British Record before Kelly Holmes regained it later that same year. In July, she finished runner-up again to Kelly Holmes at the 2004 AAA Championships{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=4 April 2025}} and at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, represented Great Britain, where Fenn finished fifth in her semi-final and did not qualify for the final.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/104960 |title=Biographical Information |website=Olympedia |access-date=4 April 2025}}
Fenn had a serious knee injury and major operation on a grapefruit-sized cyst in 2006 and split from her longtime coach in late 2007. She then spent time in Lausanne to work with Trent Sterling a Canadian middle distance coach with a view to competing in 2008 Olympic Games but she did not qualify and subsequently retired.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
Fenn is a special speaker for 21st Century Legacy, a charity set up by David Hemery as part of the 2012 legacy. In this role she visits schools up and down the country to inspire and engage with children promoting the Be the Best you can Be programme.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
Singing career
Fenn began her singing career in a local band, The Business, during her early career and was offered a place on the BBC talent show Fame Academy.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{World Athletics|great-britain-ni/joanne-mersh-fenn-14275028|Joanne Mersh-Fenn}}
- {{Power of 10|498|Jo Fenn}}
- {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516091959/http://www.athleticslinks.com/art/fenn.php |date=16 May 2006 |title=Jo Fenn – Athletics Links interview}}
- {{Team GB|jo-fenn/2b6cfF634Cz8G9Np2jshk|Jo Fenn}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20051120080049/http://www.olympics.org.uk/athens/team_gb_cat.asp?AthleteID=344&AthleteID_Detail=344&SportNameId=2 archive])
- {{CGF profile|40878|Jo Fenn}}
- {{Olympedia|name=Jo Fenn}}
- {{Olympics.com profile|joanne-fenn|Joanne Fenn}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenn, Joanne}}
Category:English female middle-distance runners
Category:British female middle-distance runners
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain
Category:People from Leytonstone
Category:Sportspeople from the London Borough of Waltham Forest
Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for England
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Category:Singers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest