Jo Ankier

Career Athletics Ankier is a former holder of the British National records for the 1500, 2000 and 3000 metre steeplechases. She trained at the UK Athletics' Endurance Centre at St Mary's University, Twickenham, and was a member of the Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers.

In 2003, she set the British record for the women's 2000 metre steeplechase with a time of 6 minutes 48 seconds, at the Birmingham AAAs championships on 26 July.

In 2005, she set the British record for the women's 3000 metre steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes 50 seconds, at the Naimette-Xhovémont track in Liège, Belgium on 20 July.

Ankier represented England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, finishing 7th.

She finished third at the qualifying trials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the third place on the team was given to the athlete who had a faster time at a previous event.

Ankier's UK rankings include:

'Under 20' 2,000 metres: 2001 – Number 1. 'Under 23' 1,500 metres: 2002 – 3rd. 'Under 23' 3,000 metres indoor: 2002 – 3rd. 1,500 metres indoor: 2002 – 12th; 2003 – 11th; 2004 – 21st; 2005 – 8th. 1,500 metres steeplechase: 2004 – Number 1. 2,000 metres steeplechase: 2001 – 3rd; 2003 – 7th; 2004 – 3rd. 3,000 metres: 2005 – 9th; 2006 – 4th. 3,000 metres indoor: 2004 – 14th; 2005 – 6th; 2007 – 4th; 2008 – 5th. 3,000 metres steeplechase: 2003 – 3rd; 2004 – 2nd, 2005 – 2nd; 2006 – 3rd; 2007 – 6th; 2008 – 4th. 2 miles: 2007 – 3rd. 10,000 metres: 2005 – 15th.

She retired from top level international athletics in 2008 and competed in only 3 events in 2009. Over the course of her ten-year athletics career she competed in 134 national and international events, winning 20 of them.

Media Ankier's media career is primarily as an investigative news and sports reporter, anchor and producer for TV channels including: ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel, The Tennis Channel, Chelsea FC, Sky Sports News, Liverpool FC, KDOC-TV, Los Angeles, Chivas USA (Major League Soccer), VICE News, TLN News and Vocative.

In 2011, Ankier hosted ESPN International's global red carpet show for the prestigious ESPY awards airing across the Europe, Caribbean and Pacific Rim regions.

In 2012, she anchored ESPN International's flagship show SportsCenter over the London 2012 Olympic Games. Her athletics background enabled her to record exclusive interviews with star athletes such as Oscar Pistorius and Allyson Felix.

In 2013, she was the solo host and reporter for ESPN's PAC-RIM Australia and New Zealand coverage of the final X Games from Los Angeles. She went on to lead ESPN International's coverage of the Americas Cup sailing in San Francisco later that year. In 2016, she covered her second Olympic games for ESPN as a reporter across track and field, soccer and tennis in Rio.

Ankier covered both the London 2012 Olympics as well as Rio 2016. Ankier was the live studio presenter of “Beyond the Game” world sports show filmed out of Istanbul for TRT World during the 2018 Fifa World Cup and has also been a regular contributor to The Tennis Channel out of Los Angeles.