Angela Rosemary Tooby-Smith (née Tooby; born 24 October 1960)[1] is a British former long-distance runner. She won a silver medal behind Ingrid Kristiansen at the 1988 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. She also finished ninth in the 10,000 metres final at the 1987 World Championships and competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She is the twin sister of fellow athlete Susan Tooby.

Angela Tooby
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Wales
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Edinburgh 10,000 m
Representing  Great Britain
World Cross Country Championships
Silver medal – second place 1988 Auckland Individual
Silver medal – second place 1988 Auckland Team

Career

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Born in Woolhope, Herefordshire, England, Tooby had her first successes in athletics in cross country running competitions. She competed at national level, winning the Welsh Cross-country Championships four times in 1984–1987[2] She ran at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1984, finishing in 8th position overall, and improved the following year by taking sixth place at the 1985 race. She had also begun to make an impact on the track, recording the fourth fastest 5000 metres run of 1984.

She was the 10,000 metres bronze medallist at the 1986 Commonwealth Games,[3] and finished ninth in the 10,000 metres race at the European Athletics Championships that year. She ran the second-fastest 5000 m run of 1987 (after Liz McColgan). In the 10,000 m race at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, she finished ninth with a personal best of 31:55.30.[4]

The 1988 season was Tooby's most successful: she became the UK Cross-country Champion and,[5] following a win at the prestigious Almond Blossom Cross Country race,[6] she won the silver medal at the 1988 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, behind Ingrid Kristiansen, and led the British women to a team silver medal as well.[7] She attended her first Olympics soon after, but in the women's 10,000 metres at the 1988 Seoul Games, she was eliminated in the heats (following a stress fracture of the spine). Her compatriot Liz McColgan took the silver.[3]

Tooby attended Aberystwyth University between 1979 and 1983 studying geography and a PGCE in Geography & PE.[3] She is married to Professor Andy Smith. Her twin sister Susan Tooby, also competed at the 1988 Olympics.

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing   Great Britain and   Wales
1984 World Cross Country Championships New York, United States 8th 5 km 16:18
1985 World Cross Country Championships Lisbon, Portugal 6th 5 km 15:40
1986 Commonwealth Games Edinburgh, Scotland 3rd 10,000 m 32:25.38
European Championships Stuttgart, West Germany 9th 10,000 m 31:56.59
1987 World Championships Rome, Italy 9th 10,000 m 31:55.30
1988 World Cross Country Championships Auckland, New Zealand 2nd 6 km 19:23
Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 29th (heats) 10,000 m 33:26.57

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Angela Tooby". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  2. ^ "GBR Athletics WELSH CHAMPIONSHIPS". GBR Athletics.
  3. ^ a b c "Aberytwyth Alumni". BBC Wales.
  4. ^ Tooby, Angela. IAAF. Retrieved on 11 March 2010.
  5. ^ "GBR Athletics WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS TRIALS". GBR Athletics. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022.
  6. ^ Civai, Franco (9 March 2009). Amendoeiras em Flor (Almond Blossom) 10 km & 6 km. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 10 March 2010.
  7. ^ IAAF World Cross Country Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 11 March 2010.
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