Olympic athlete, British record holder, TV presenter, singer songwriter and law graduate – Jazmin Sawyers has numerous talents and she excels at all of them.
Whether she’s smashing her personal bests in the long jump, releasing songs with Britain’s Got Talent winners or appearing in TV commercials for Olay, Jazmin is always a brilliant ambassador for her home city of Stoke-on-Trent.
The 30-year-old, who competes for City of Stoke-on-Trent AC, picked up a silver medal at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics as part of the bobsleigh team.
Her medal haul also includes golds at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games for long jump and 100m relay, bronze for long jump at the 2012 World Junior Athletics Championships and silver in the long jump at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Jazmin, from Trentham, claimed silver and bronze at the 2016 and 2022 European Championships respectively. Jazmin won her first major senior title at the 2023 European Indoor Championships.
She is the British indoor record holder for the long jump – with an outright best of seven metres. Jazmin is also a five-time national champion.
She was a child gymnast, participating in the sport from the age of four. At age 10 she began to take part in athletics events at school and decided to start practising in various events.
She became a member of City of Stoke Athletics Club and her first international appearances came in 2011 at the World Youth Championships. She has since gone on to represent Great Britain at Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic level.
In April 2024 Jazmin announced she had undergone surgery after rupturing the achilles on her take-off leg and would subsequently miss the Paris 2024 Olympics. She was a BBC commentator at the Paris 2024 Olympic games.
Jazmin has a law degree from Bristol University and is a talented singer/songwriter. Back in 2017 she appeared on The Voice where she was chosen to be coached by Will.i.am.
In 2018 she joined forces with Britain’s Got Talent winner Tokio Myers to record the official English anthem for the Commonwealth Games. Their version of Jerusalem featured a 54-piece orchestra and choir.
Jazmin joined forces with beauty brand Olay and the Young Women’s Trust for a campaign aimed at unlocking women’s potential, which saw her appear in TV and cinema advertising.
Jazmin has for years been a passionate advocate for menstrual health and removing the barrier of periods from many women into sport, and has joined Always as an ambassador to further promote this message with their joint ‘It’s a New Period’ campaign.
She has also been an ambassador for Right To Play, which aims to help vulnerable children to overcome the effects of war, poverty and disease around the world through play. The role has seen her travel out to Tanzania to see an education programme firsthand.
Alongside her training schedule she works as a TV sports presenter.
The Award of Honorary Doctor of the University honoris causa (Hon DUniv) is bestowed upon Jazmin in recognition of her exceptional talent as an athlete, Olympian, European champion and British record holder. A product of the City of Stoke Athletics Club who is incredibly proud of her Stoke-on-Trent roots, she is an inspirational role model for young people everywhere – not to mention a wonderful ambassador for women athletes and champion of grassroots sports.
The award also acknowledges how she demonstrated the diversity and adaptability of her expertise and skills through her career as a performer, media presenter and accomplished singer/songwriter.