Judith Earline Veronica Simpson (née Livermore; born 14 November 1960) is a British former heptathlete who competed at two Olympic Games. She went on to appear as Nightshade in the TV show Gladiators between 1993 and 1996.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Judith Earline Veronica Livermore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 14 November 1960 Kingston, Jamaica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Heptathlon and 100m hurdles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Rugby & District AC, Rugby Birchfield Harriers, Birmingham | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editShe went to Harris School. She competed in Tae Kwan Do, becoming the English champion, and was in the English team. She lived on Wood Street.[1]
Athletics career
editSimpson was born in Jamaica, but brought up in Rugby, Warwickshire.[2] She competed in the pentathlon at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and in the heptathlon and high jump at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She competed in three Commonwealth Games; the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland and the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, winning a silver, gold and bronze respectively in the heptathlon.[3][4][5][6][7] She was also the Three A's heptathlon champion in 1982 and 1983. In 1986, Simpson won a bronze medal in the heptathlon at the European Championships in Stuttgart with a personal best points total of 6623.
Television
editIn 1987, Simpson participated in Prince Edward's charity television special The Grand Knockout Tournament. Between 1993 and 1996, she featured in the British television show Gladiators as "Nightshade". After appearing in an Ashes competition with Australian Gladiators, she became ill. She appeared for a few episodes of the 1996 series but was later forced to pull out.
Personal life
editIn 1999, Simpson's daughter, Joan Mary, died of meningitis, following a nationwide outbreak of the disease.[8]
Achievements
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Great Britain /  England
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| 1980 | Olympic Games | Moscow, Soviet Union | 13th | pentathlon | 4304 |
| 1982 | European Championships | Athens, Greece | 7th | heptathlon | 6287 |
| Commonwealth Games | Brisbane, Australia | 5th | 100 m hurdles | 13.25 | |
| 2nd | heptathlon | 6214 | |||
| 1983 | World Student Games (Universiade) | Edmonton, Canada | 3rd | heptathlon | 6184 |
| World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | — | heptathlon | DNF | |
| 1984 | Olympic Games | Los Angeles, United States | 19th (q) | high jump | 1.84 m |
| 5th | heptathlon | 6280 | |||
| 1985 | World Student Games (Universiade) | Kobe, Japan | 3rd | heptathlon | 6046 |
| 1986 | Commonwealth Games | Edinburgh, Scotland | 1st | heptathlon | 6282 |
| European Championships | Stuttgart, West Germany | 3rd | heptathlon | 6623 | |
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | — | heptathlon | DNF |
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 3rd | heptathlon | 6085 |
References
edit- ^ Coventry Evening Telegraph Wednesday 3 March 1976, page 10
- ^ "Judy Simpson (nee Livermore)". Birchfield Harriers Sporting Tales. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ "1986 Athletes". Team England.
- ^ "England team in 1986". Commonwealth Games Federation.
- ^ "1990 Athletes". Team England.
- ^ "England team in 1990". Commonwealth Games Federation.
- ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
- ^ "Brain disease claims Gladiator's baby". BBC News. 7 January 1999. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
