Guernsey Press

On This Day in 2011: Keri-Anne Payne makes London Olympics after Shanghai win

Payne claimed a gold medal in the 10 kilometre open water race at the FINA World Championships.

Published

Keri-Anne Payne became the first Team GB athlete to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics on this day in 2011.

Payne claimed a gold medal in the 10 kilometre open water race at the FINA World Championships at Jinshan City Beach in Shanghai.

The 23-year-old had led from the get go and managed to qualify for her home Olympics in top spot despite pressure from Australia’s Melissa Gorman.

“It feels amazing. I’m just so happy with myself for doing that,” Payne said.

Keri-Anne Payne puts her hand over her face in disappointment after finishing fourth at the London Olympics
Keri-Anne Payne finished fourth in London (Owen Humphreys/PA)

“I can concentrate on training now for next year and I don’t have to worry about qualifying because I’ve already done it.”

Payne, who had won a silver medal at the Beijing Games in 2008, missed out on a medal in London after a fourth-place finish.

She finished behind Hungarian Eva Risztov, USA’s Haley Anderson and Martina Grimaldi from Italy.

In 2017 Payne retired from competitive swimming at the age of 29.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.