Hollie Beth Arnold, is a British parasportathlete competing in category F46 javelin. Although born in Grimsby, she now lives and trains in Loughborough. Arnold competed without achieving a podium finish at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, but took the gold medal in the F46 javelin in the 2016 Summer Paralympics at Rio. In 2018 she became the second Paralympian, after Sophie Hahn to hold Paralympic, World, European and Commonwealth gold medals in the same event.
Personal history
Arnold was born in Lincolnshire in 1994, growing up in Holton-le-Clay. She was born without her right forearm. When attending a Star Track Athletics course during her Summer holidays she discovered an ability at the javelin. She joined Cleethorpes Athletic Club, but later moved to Hengoed in Wales to be near her former athletics coach. In 2017 she relocated to train with her present coach at Loughborough University at Loughborough.
Athletics career
Her first disability sports event at the age of 11, winning seven gold medals across several events. In 2008, at the age of 14 she was selected to represent Great Britain at the Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, finishing 11th in the women's F42-46 javelin. She was the youngest member of the 2008 Great Britain team. The next year she won her first significant medals when she competed in the 2009 IWASWorld Junior Championships in Switzerland; winning silver in the F46 discus and bronze in the F46 javelin. 2009 was the last year Arnold competed at championships in discus, concentrating fully on the javelin. The following year she improved on her javelin medal when she took silver at the 2010 IWAS World Junior Championship and then took gold at the 2011 Championship which was held in Dubai. 2011 saw Arnold step up to the senior level representing Britain at the IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand; she finished third in the F46 javelin, taking the bronze medal. In 2012, she took the silver medal at the IPC Championships. Her personal best at F46 javelin was recorded at 35.88m in June 2012 at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff, ranking her as the world number two in her event going into the 2012 Paralympics. Arnold's personal best was increased at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London with a throw of 36.27m. On 22 July, Arnold competed in the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon. She won gold with a winning throw of 37.45m, furthering her personal best. In 2014 Arnold was preparing for the buildup to the IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea, hoping to improve on the silver medal she won in Stadskanaal two years prior. With only a few weeks to the event Arnold was informed that due to a lack of competitors her F46 event had been removed. Her next chance for a major international medal came at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha. There she threw a championship record distance of 40.53 to retain her gold medal. In September 2016 Arnold won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro with a world record throw of 43.01 metres. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to field athletics. In April 2018, Arnold won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia with a world record throw of 44.43 metres.
