Louise Hazel

Louise Victoria Hazel (born 6 October 1985) is an English track and field athlete from March, Cambridgeshire, who specialises in the multi-event heptathlon. She has competed in four major international championships. The first was in 2006 when she came 17th at the European Championships and the second was three years later when she finished 14th at the World Championships. In July 2012 she appeared with Tasha Danvers, Mark Foster and Derek Redmond on the Channel 4 programme Come Dine with Me prior to her Olympics competition, and won the show.

In September 2013 she announced her retirement from heptathlon, although she could compete in other events. In January 2014 she announced that she would come out of retirement to defend her title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after Jessica Ennis-Hill announced that she would miss the Games due to pregnancy, but in June 2014 Hazel stated that she had decided to abandon her comeback due to her training schedule being disrupted by a flare-up of ulcerative colitis.

Early life Hazel was born in Southwark, London and enjoyed sports as a child. Encouraged by her father she began training at age 10 at the local athletics club. She was educated at Neale-Wade Community College in Cambridgeshire and graduated with a BA in French from the University of Birmingham. While at university she joined the renowned Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club.

Advocacy Hazel is an ambassador for the British Heart Foundation.

Competition record

2010 Commonwealth Games

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes 100 metre hurdles 13.25 secs 2nd 1,087 2nd (1,087) Personal Best High jump 1.69 m 7th 842 4th (1,929) Shot put 12.54 m 5th 697 5th (2,626) 200 metres 24.10 secs 2nd 971 3rd (3,597) Personal Best Long jump 6.44 m 1st 988 1st (4,585) Personal Best. Lead by 74 points Javelin 44.42 m 1st 752 1st (5,337) Personal Best. Lead by 126 points 800 metres 2:20.33 4th 819 1st (6,156) Won by 56 points Heptathlon 6,156 1st Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist.

2011 World Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes 100 metre hurdles 13.24 secs 5th 1,089 5th (1,089) Personal Best High jump 1.74 m 20th 903 16th (1,992) Personal Best Shot put 12.36 m 22nd 685 18th (2,677) 200 metres 24.25 secs 7th 957 16th (3,634) Long jump 6.25 m 10th 927 13th (4,561) Javelin 41.75 m 17th 701 16th (5,262) 800 metres 2:15.44 16th 887 15th (6,149) Heptathlon 6,149 15th

2012 Olympic Games

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes 100 metre hurdles 13.48 secs =15th 1,053 =15th (1,053) High jump 1.59 m 38th 724 37th (1,777) Shot put 12.81 m 29th 715 37th (2,492) 200 metres 24.48 secs 20th 935 34th (3,427) Long jump 5.77 m 29th 780 31st (4,207) Javelin 47.38 m 11th 809 30th (5,016) Personal Best 800 metres 2:18:78 23rd 840 27th (5,856) Heptathlon 5,856 27th

Other ventures In 2015 Hazel competed on The Chase and a celebrity Christmas special edition of Ninja Warrior UK.

In 2017 Hazel appeared on a charity edition of MTVs The Challenge, titled The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros. She competed to raise money for Save the Children. In 2018, she returned to the MTVs The Challenge spinoff, titled The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars.