Margaret Simpson (born 31 December 1981) is a Ghanaian heptathlete. She won a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships, setting several personal bests in the process. Her personal best is 6423 points, achieved in Götzis in May 2005.
Biography In one of her earliest international senior performances, she placed fourth at the 1999 All-Africa Games. She was the junior champion at the 1999 African Junior Athletics Championships, but failed to finish in the event at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics. She was selected for the heptathlon at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and placed 13th overall. Senior success came the following year as she took the bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and then won the heptathlon gold medal at the 2002 African Championships in Athletics. She failed to finish at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. In 2004, Simpson became African Champion for a second time and followed this result with a ninth place at the 2004 Athens Olympics.Simpson Margaret. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-04-19.
Simpson reached the global podium for the first time at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, taking third place with the second best performance of her career with a tally of 6375 points. She had set a personal best of 6423 points at the Hypo-Meeting earlier that season. She missed the 2006 season but returned the year after, setting an African record 7014-point score in the women's decathlon.
She followed that with a gold medal performance at the 2007 All-Africa Games. She failed to finish at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics later that season. She missed all of the 2008 season after this. She was off form in 2009 and registered a season's best of 5872 points at the Meeting International d'Arles. She was back to good form at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics, where she won a third heptathlon title in a score of 6031 points. She also managed eighth in the high jump for African at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup.
She won the 2011 edition of the Multistars meeting in Desenzano del Garda with a score of 6270 points, defeating the 2010 champion Marina Goncharova.Sampaolo, Diego (2011-05-10). De Araujo and Simpson take Desenzano victories – IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-14. She was fourteenth at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and won a third straight title at the 2011 All-Africa Games. She won the African Combined Events Championships in both 2011 and 2012. Kamé and Simpson retain titles in Mauritius - IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-04-19.
She withdrew from the heptathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics due to a kidney infection.
Simpson is renowned for her strong javelin throw, her personal best in which is 56.36 metres.
Achievements Representing 1999African Junior ChampionshipsTunis, Tunisia 2nd4 × 100 m relay47.13 1stHeptathlon5366 ptsAll-Africa GamesJohannesburg, South Africa4thHeptathlon5089 pts2000World Junior ChampionshipsSantiago, Chile —HeptathlonDNF2001World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Canada13thHeptathlon5748 pts2002Commonwealth GamesManchester, United Kingdom 3rdHeptathlon5906 ptsAfrican ChampionshipsRadès, Tunisia 1stHeptathlon6105 pts2003Hypo-MeetingGötzis, Austria5thHeptathlon6120 ptsWorld ChampionshipsParis, France –HeptathlonDNFAll-Africa GamesAbuja, Nigeria 1stHeptathlon6152 pts2004Hypo-MeetingGötzis, Austria5thHeptathlon6306 ptsAfrican ChampionshipsBrazzaville, Republic of the Congo 1stHeptathlon6154 pts2005Hypo-MeetingGötzis, Austria4thHeptathlon6423 ptsWorld ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland 3rdHeptathlon6375 pts2007All-Africa GamesAlgiers, Algeria 1stHeptathlon6278 ptsWorld ChampionshipsOsaka, Japan –HeptathlonDNF2010African ChampionshipsNairobi, Kenya 1stHeptathlon6031 pts2011All-Africa GamesMaputo, Mozambique 1stHeptathlon6172 pts2012African ChampionshipsPorto-Novo, Benin 1stJavelin throw54.62 m –HeptathlonDNF
Competition record
2011 World Championships
EventResultPositionPointsOverallNotes100 metre hurdles13.43 secs1st1,0609thHeat 3High jump1.80 m2nd9789thGroup BShot put12.48 m7th69317thGroup B200 metres25.23 secs3rd86619thHeat 3Long jump5.88 m10th81322ndGroup BJavelin53.13 m2nd92114thGroup A800 metres2:17.918th85214thHeat 2Heptathlon6,18314thSource:IAAF
References
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