Kelly Holmes' donation to the IAAF (© c)
35yearold Kelly Holmes who won an incredible 800m / 1500m double at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens has donated a Great Britain and Northern Ireland vest to the IAAF humanitarian project Athletics for a Better World.
Holmes won her first global medals at the 1995 IAAF World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden when she came second at 1500m four days before taking bronze in the 800m.
At her first Olympic appearance in Atlanta 1996, Holmes just missed out on a medal finishing fourth in the 800m final. She was severely injured the following year at the 1997 IAAF World Championships in Athens, on that same track which would give her glory 7 years later.
She won bronze at the Sydney Olympics and then again bronze at the Munich European Championships before taking silver behind training partner Maria Mutola at the 2003 Paris World Championships.
Indoors, she won silver in front of her home crowd in Birmingham 2003 and then fell in the 2004 Budapest World Championships as she was poised to win the title.
In 2004 Holmes also won the 1500m at the World Athletics Final in Monaco and was awarded by the International Athletic Foundation with the 2004 Performance of the Year award.
Holmes’ autographed donation will be auctioned at the end of the year and all profits donated to the United Nations Associations: FAO, UNICEF and WFP.