A Visit from Annie Tagoe

Gumley House is dedicated to celebrating the stories of successful women in our society. With that in mind, we were extremely excited to welcome British sprinter Annie Tagoe to our school on Friday 12th July 2024.

In 2013, Annie won a silver for Britain in the 4x100m relay alongside her team-mates. Competing at the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester in July 2023, she was one of the fastest qualifiers for the final of the women’s 100m race, behind Dina Asher-Smith. Following this, Annie was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023 where she won a bronze in the 4x100m relay. Most recently in April 2024, she was selected as part of the British team for the 2024 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas.

During Annie's visit, students were given the opportunity to hear Annie's story followed by a Q&A session. She shared her trials of being injured for 10 years but remaining resilient, explained how her faith helps her in staying mentally strong and spoke about the importance of representation in the sport. Following this session, some students were given the opportunity to have a practical session with Annie. She gave tips on how to run faster and even challenged some girls to a race- needless to say she won.

We are extremely grateful to Annie Tagoe for the time, vulnerability and love shown to the students. She has promised to come back again when next in the UK so we look forward to welcoming her back again in the near future.