The Women and Sport Conference is delighted to complete our speaker line up with the announcement that Christine Ohuruogu, the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth 400m champion will be joining the conference on panel one.

 Christine, will join the opening panel "Building on the momentum - women and sport in 2009." along with Barbara Slater (Director of Sport, the BBC), Sue Tibballs (CEO of the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation), Clare Connor OBE (Head of England Women’s Cricket), Carol Isherwood OBE (IRB Council Member) and moderator Mary Rhodes (BBC broadcaster and journalist).

Phil Savage, Editorial Director of SportBusiness Group "We are delighted that an athlete of Christine's talent and experience has taken time out of her busy training schedule to join the Women and Sport Conference. Raised less than a mile from the London 2012 Olympic Stadium Christine is a great example of the achievements of women's sport in the UK and of it undoubted potential leading into the next decade."

Christine Ohuruogu was born in 1984 in Newham, East London and was raised less than a mile from the London 2012 Olympic Stadium. Christine is the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth 400m champion. Christine played Netball for England at U17 and U19 levels. However, at the age of 16 she joined the Newham & Essex Beagles where she decided, after picking up a bronze medal almost immediately at the 2003 European Junior Championship, to focus solely on athletics.

Christine was a 400m semi-finalist during the Athens 2004 Games and was also part of the Team GB 4x400m squad that reached the final. In 2005 Christine gained a BA Linguistics degree from University College London and in the same year anchored the British 4x400m relay team to a bronze medal at the World Championships in Helsinki.

In 2006, Christine ran a personal best to win Commonwealth Gold in Melbourne.  At the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, Christine became the first British woman to win a global 400m title.  She also took bronze in the 400m relay.  Later that year Christine was named the British Athletics Writers’ female athlete of the year.

Christine won the 400m gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games - the only British athlete to win a track and field gold medal in Beijing. Christine was awarded an MBE in the 2008 New Year Honours List for services to sport and was recently honoured with Freedom of the Borough of Newham. Christine speaks German and her academic achievement and interests are extremely important to her.

Christine’s parents came to Britain from Nigeria and Christine is the second child of eight. Her younger sister Victoria is also a talented sprinter and current England Athletics U17 300m champion.