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Jessica Zelinka

Personal information
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1981-09-03) 3 September 1981 (age 43) London, Ontario
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	140 lb (64 kg)
Sport
Sport	Heptathlon
Club	New York Athletic Club
Now coaching	Les Gramantik
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Heptathlon: 6599 points Calgary, 2012 Pentathlon: 4326, Regina, 2005 100 m hurdles: 12.65, London, 2012
Medal record Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Heptathlon 2014 Glasgow Heptathlon Pan American Games 2007 Rio de Janeiro Heptathlon
Updated on July 2012

Jessica Zelinka (born 3 September 1981 in London, Ontario) is a Canadian pentathlete, heptathlete, and 100 m hurdler. Her personal best score is 6599 points for the heptathlon. She was the gold medalist at the 2007 Pan American Games. Zelinka won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and repeated her silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics Zelinka finished in 6th overall in the heptathlon and 7th in the 100 m hurdles.

Career

Zelinka first became interested in track and field in elementary school and competed in her first heptathlon at 16. She missed much of the 1999 outdoor season because of an illness. Her first international competition was the 2000 IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics, where she was fifth in the heptathlon and also competed in the heats of the 100 meter hurdles. She missed most of the 2002 season due to a back and hamstring injury. Zelinka's first major global outing came at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and she finished in eleventh place. She just missed out on the medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games having finished in fourth place.

Regional success came at the 2007 Pan American Games as she fended off Gretchen Quintana, among others, to top the podium and take the gold medal. She set a new personal best and Canadian record points score for heptathlon, with 6343. She was selected for the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, but did not compete.

She finished in fifth place at the 2008 Summer Olympics. This equalled the best place finish of a Canadian woman in a multi-events sport at the Olympics. At the Beijing Olympics, she set a new Canadian record for heptathlon, with 6490 points. After her Olympic appearance, she took the 2009 season off from competition and had a daughter with her partner Nathaniel Miller, a Canadian international in water polo.

Building up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, she finished third in the heptathlon at the Décastar meeting in Talence, France. She earned a season's best total of 6204 points. At the games Zelinka was battling the traveler's diarrhea that affected many athletes in Delhi. Despite the challenges she managed to finish a respectable second and win the silver. Though she did medal Zelinka admitted some disappointment as she had gone to Delhi to win gold. Zelinka's medal was notable however as she just had a baby the previous year and had taken that season off and only returned to competition in 2010.

As of 2012, Zelinka's coach is Les Gramantik. During the 2012 Canadian Olympic trials for track and field, she set a new personal best, of 6599 points, and new Canadian record score for heptathletes, on 28 June 2012, besting her old personal best and Canadian record, set at the 2008 Olympics. This selected her for the 2012 London Olympics for heptathlon. Two days later, she finished first in the 100 m hurdles, qualifying her for that event as well. She had considered foregoing it to concentrate on the heptathlon, but decided to compete in both events. At the 2012 London Olympics, Zelinka finished 7th overall in both the Women's Heptathlon event and the 100 m hurdles.

Zelinka competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games following a couple years away from the sport, there she won silver behind teammate Brianne Theisen-Eaton.

Results

Honours

In 2012 Zelinka was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

References

1. ^ 2006 Commonwealth Games, ZELINKA Jessica (accessed 2012)
2. Eduardo Biscayart (25 July 2007). "Barber takes 100m title with 11.02 – Pan American Games, Day 3". IAAF. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
3. Canadian Press (16 August 2008). "Zelinka sets record en route to sixt". SportsNet. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
4. ^ Mingo, Rita (29 June 2012). "Jessica Zelinka punches ticket to London in grand fashion". The Gazette (Montreal). Retrieved 1 July 2012.
5. Spencer, Donna (23 June 2011). Olympic pair ‘not easy on each other’. The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved on 24 June 2011.
6. van Kuijen, Hans (19 September 2010). Suarez and Chernova prevail in Talence - IAAF World Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 19 September 2010.
7. ^ Randy Starkman (9 October 2010). "Heptathlete Jessica Zelinka goes the extra mile". Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
8. ^ Dave Feschuk (30 June 2012). "London 2012: Zelinka wins, Felicien and Lopes-Schliep fail to qualify at Olympic trials". Toronto Star. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
9. Athletics Canada: http://www.athletics.ca/main.asp?page_url=/profile.asp?pID=10
10. "Jessica Zelinka - Athlete Profile". IAAF. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
11. "One more time for the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal". James' Brand New Blog. Retrieved 3 June 2017.

External links

• Official Website
• Jessica Zelinka at World Athletics
• Profile at Athletics Canada

• 1981 births
• Living people
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Canadian heptathletes
• Olympic track and field athletes for Canada
• Track and field athletes from London, Ontario
• Track and field athletes from Ontario
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
• Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada
• Canadian female hurdlers
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games
• Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada
• Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
• Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
• World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada
• Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games
• Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
• Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
• Canadian Track and Field Championships winners
• Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
• 21st-century Canadian sportswomen