ABSTRACT
Stephanie Jayne Cook was born to Paul and Valerie Cook on 7 February 1972 at Irvine, North Ayrshire, in Scotland. She attended Bedford High School and then The Perse School for Girls, Cambridge. During her schooling she was a keen sportswoman particularly excelling in hockey and cross-country. During her time at the university, Cook continued her sporting interests. During her time at Peterhouse she rowed for the university lightweight crew before a stress fracture of a rib affected her winter training regimen whilst president of the club. After university and national sporting honours, international honours soon followed for Cook. She was selected to represent Great Britain at the modern pentathlon European Championships in Moscow but the dates clashed with her medical finals and so she was unable to participate in the event. Following her Olympic gold medal, Cook received many awards and had further golden sporting success.
