Jackie McKernan

Jacqueline Lena McKernan (born 1 July 1965) is a retired Northern Irish discus thrower. She represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at three Olympic Games (1988, 1992, 1996) and won silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 and the Universiade in 1993.

Biography Born in Belfast, McKernan was a member of the City of Lisburn Athletics Club. McKernan became the British discus throw champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1988 AAA Championships. It was the first of her six AAA titles, the others coming in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997.

She finished 18th in qualifying at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, before going on to win a silver medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games representing Northern Ireland, with a throw of 54.86 metres. She then finished 28th in qualifying at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

McKernan's personal best throw is 60.72 metres, achieved when winning the silver medal at the Universiade on 17 July 1993 in Buffalo. This is the Northern Irish record, and places her sixth on the UK all-time list, behind Meg Ritchie, Jade Lally, Venissa Head, Philippa Roles and Shelley Newman. She finished 20th in the qualifying round at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with 58.88 metres (her best throw at an Olympics).

International competitions

National titles 6 AAA Championships (1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997) 5 UK Championships (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)