Jeanette Kwakye is Britain’s brightest female sprinting hope for more than two decades. Born to Ghanaian parents, Kwakye – which means ‘raven’ – landed her first national title at the 1997 English Schools’ Championships.
She continued to feature as one of Britain’s top young sprinters before making a big advance in 2002. Using her blistering start to maximum effect, she won the AAA Indoor Under-20 60m gold medal and later featured in the Great Britain team that struck 4x100m bronze at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston; she also reached the 100m semi-finals in Jamaica.
She moved from her native London in autumn 2002 to study politics and economics at Loughborough University, and the following summer landed gold in the AAA Under-23 Championships.
In 2004 she retained her British Under-23 title and recorded a 100m PB of 10.44. In 2005 she made progress over 60m, running a new PB of 7.22 in Stuttgart and also landing the AAA National Senior 60m crown. She then won the 100m/200m double at the AAA Under-23 Championships, but thereafter struggled to find consistency due to a hamstring problem.
Now living back in Chingford, her 2007 season started positively with a 60m PB – 7.17 – in the semi-final of the European Indoor Championships in Birmingham and a fourth-place finish in the final. Outdoors, she landed the national 100m title and set a new PB: 11.26.
Coached by Michael Afilaka, Kwakye stepped up to world class in 2008. Having given up her part-time job as a sales administrator in order to concentrate on athletics, she burst to the fore at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia. She matched Bev Kinch’s 21-year-old national 60m record – 7.13 – before obliterating the mark with a stunning 7.08 in the final to pick up the silver medal – 0.02 behind Angela Williams of the USA.
Jeanette’s brother Louis is also an athlete. He ran 10.8 in his first 100m.