Biography.guide
Home › People › Athletics competitor › Philippa Roles
Portrait of Philippa Roles

Philippa Roles

1978 – 2017

British athlete

Athletics competitor Train driverDiscus thrower
Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Philippa Roles

Lived 1978 – 2017 (aged 39). Philippa Roles was a British athletics competitor, train driver and discus thrower.

Philippa Kate Roles (1 March 1978 – 21 May 2017) was a Welsh discus thrower who competed at two Olympic and four Commonwealth Games. Roles was British junior athlete of the year – an honour presented at Buckingham Palace. She was the first British discus thrower to medal at junior European level; and narrowly missed out on a medal at under 23 level, finishing 4th. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Biography Born in Neath, she studied at Neath Port Talbot College from where she gained her degree, and was resident in London. Roles worked for the train operating company Southern as a train driver on services in South London. She represented Swansea Harriers at club level. Proudly Welsh, she was a popular member of Team Wales and Team GB due to her sense of humour and self-deprecating manner.

Roles was a five-times British discus throw champion after winning the British AAA Championships title in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Her personal best throw was 62.89 metres, achieved in June 2003 in Loughborough. This placed her third on the British outdoor all-time list, behind Meg Ritchie and Venissa Head. It also ranked her in the World top 20.

Roles competed in the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, in Manchester in 2002, in Melbourne, Australia in 2006 and Delhi in 2010. She competed in two Olympics - in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008.

On 16 July 2008, Roles appeared as Jonny Saunders' guest in the feature "Who's in the Locker, Cocker?" on Chris Evans Drivetime on BBC Radio 2.

Roles died suddenly and unexpectedly on 21 May 2017 aged 39.

International competitions

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Also known as
Philippa Kate Roles

People in Philippa Roles's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Philippa Roles's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Philippa Roles?

British athlete (1978-2017)

When was Philippa Roles born?

Philippa Roles was born on 1 March 1978 in Neath.

When did Philippa Roles die?

Philippa Roles died on 22 May 2017.

What was Philippa Roles's occupation?

Philippa Roles was an athletics competitor, train driver and discus thrower.

What nationality was Philippa Roles?

Philippa Roles was British.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Philippa Roles

· Wikidata: Q7184733

· DBpedia: Philippa Roles

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Philippa Roles. https://biography.guide/philippa-roles/

MLA: "Philippa Roles." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/philippa-roles/.

Chicago: "Philippa Roles." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/philippa-roles/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:22 UTC