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Keynote SpeakerSally Gunnell

The only sportswomen ever to hold four major track titles concurrently

Sally Gunnell’s rise to the pinnacle of her sport was hard won. She blew the chance to be World Champion in 1991, stormed back to win Olympic Gold in 1992 and defied incredible odds to become World Champion in 1993, setting a new World Record in the process. She contended... Read more

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Watch Sally Gunnell in action

  • Sally Gunnell - Wellbeing

  • Sally Gunnell: How did you develop your confidence going into business? | Small Business Snippets

  • Using The Power of Visualisation to Achieve High Performance: Sally Gunnell OBE #E50

Popular Talks by Sally Gunnell

  • Sustaining Excellence — Beyond the Podium

    Winning once is a milestone. Sustaining success is a mindset. This keynote explores what it really takes to maintain high performance over time — and how to balance ambition with wellbeing. Sally shares lessons on leadership, legacy, and staying energised without burning out. Ideal for organisations focused on long-term growth…

  • Wellbeing and Performance — The Mind-Body Connection

    True performance is built on a foundation of wellbeing. In this insightful and empowering session, Sally reveals how physical and mental health drive sustained success — and how to embed wellbeing into both personal habits and workplace culture. Perfect for teams and leaders looking to build resilience, reduce stress, and…

  • Conflict resolution and overcoming Adversity

    How to manage staff and their wellbeing in the new world – how to also reimplement the desire for success from the bottom up. – Motivation – how do we work harder not smarter. – Planning – It’s in the detail but be ready for diversions. What it takes to…

  • Unlocking High Performance — Lessons for Life, Business, and Teams

    Explore what it takes to perform at your best when it matters most. In this powerful keynote, Sally shares the mindset, discipline, and resilience that took her from Olympic hopeful to world champion — and how those same principles apply to business and leadership. This session is packed with inspiration…

  • Resilience and Hybrid Working

    – Making Hybrid work for everyone.

    – Why exercise is vital to a good work ethic.

    – Strength of the mind and how to tap into it.

    – Why failure is our greatest teacher.

Biography

Sally Gunnell’s rise to the pinnacle of her sport was hard won. She blew the chance to be World Champion in 1991, stormed back to win Olympic Gold in 1992 and defied incredible odds to become World Champion in 1993, setting a new World Record in the process. She contended with injuries, athletes that she saw as more naturally gifted and, a relatively modest support infrastructure compared to her peers.

Her success, by her own admission, was down to a firm grip over her own mind and a lot of very hard graft.

Sally Gunnell remains a towering figure in British athletics. She has more than 15 years’ experience in addressing a wide variety of corporate audiences. She has covered global conferences of thousands and senior leadership teams of just 6. Her natural, easy-going style belies her relentless focus on achieving and sustaining excellence.

Sally Gunnell effortlessly weaves the secrets of sporting achievement with the valuable components that underpin success in business. Her key themes hold resonance for senior decision-makers and junior staff alike. No corporate speaks, no clever-sounding management models. Just tried-and-tested solutions and techniques that took a farmer’s daughter from the hay bales of Essex to the winner’s podium at the Barcelona Olympics.

Sally’s honest, down-to-earth approach has won her many admirers over the years. She has written four books and her latest gets right under the skin of what makes a successful, fulfilled person. For the first time, she brings together in one place all the themes that have brought success in her sporting, business and family lives. ’10 hurdles for life ‘is for anyone who knows they have something to accomplish in life and is focused on enabling it to happen. The only limit is our imagination, understand this and the game of life becomes more fun and less hard work.

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What clients say about Sally Gunnell

“Sally was extremely natural and engaging which helped our colleagues and clients immediately settle into the event. There was a feeling of familiarity right from the start with Sally but also something very special having a national sporting icon talk to us directly and honestly. The subjects discussed touched diversity, racism, motivation and determination, mental well-being, the Olympics, coming up in sport. Varied and inclusive for all with some nice overlaps into the corporate world. I obviously loved having a special audience for 5 minutes at the start with a sporting heroine from my sprinting days at Loughborough and curly hair chat!” Thomson Reuters, Elena Folkes, Director, Strategy & Market Development
“Sally is one of the most inspirational and motivating speakers we’ve ever had join us on our TechWomen programme, one of BT’s key diversity programmes. Throughout the past 12 months, Sally has joined us numerous times on our programme and our TechWomen always love her stories. More recently, Sally created a bespoke session for us around mental fitness which went down a storm. Sally always gets on board with your goals and objectives to make sure your attendees get the most out of their time with her and is an absolute joy to work with!” BT, Rachel Brackenbury, Talent Programme Manager
“Sally joined us for our 2021 kickoff meeting and it was the perfect way to start the new year with the team. It was over zoom, of course, but that did not take away one bit. She was so engaging, funny, and extraordinarily inspirational. We're an HR tech company but Sally did a wonderful job of tying her Olympic experience to ours as individuals. We highly recommend having Sally join you for a speech!” Apploi, Amanda Cianni, Project Manager
"Sally’s speech was highly inspirational and motivational. Her story, while unrelated to our profession, was easily translatable to our line of work. She went down a storm with our delegates and would be an ideal speaker for virtually any audience." IRMS, Matthew Stephenson, Chair
"Sally Gunnell is a big name, who has achieved so much by working hard. Sharing her personal experiences with us was priceless. I was very impressed when she spoke about mindset; how we can achieve anything if we are mentally strong and put all of our hard work in the right direction. I felt like I could relate to her and her sporting experiences; she spoke my language. I found her inspirational and awesome!" Armadillo Self Storage Conference, Delegate
"Sally was the ideal speaker to engage our audience of HR Directors. Our company regularly engages with HR Directors and are always trying to find a topic and speaker who will resonate with them. Sally delivered a highly interactive talk on 'resilience' explaining to our audience of HR Directors the challenges she overcame in her athletic career and how this translated into her business career. Sally provided an ideal blend of theory and practice, which resonated perfectly with the audience. I would thoroughly recommend Sally to other organisations." Leathewaite, Kevin Matthews, Global Head of Marketing
“We were looking for a speaker who could inspire attendees at a conference, the main theme for which was: winning in the new environment. Sally did a great job in this capacity, as a living example and through the key messages in her speech. All in all, a great success!” Brian Freidman, Ernst & Young
“Sally, your talk has had a tremendous effect on the thousands of delegates who attended our conference. You were so relatable and you have inspired them to focus on their objectives and persist until they win. Thank you!!” Consultant International, Business System.
“Sally gave an inspiring presentation and the CSO team left the meeting feeling very motivated. It was valuable seeing how Sally related her experiences to the every day challenges in the workplace.” Rachael French, Communications Manager - IBM Customer Support Operations
“…You can take messages from Sally's speech without having to have the vision of winning an Olympic Gold and the message fitted extremely well with everything else we were doing during the 2-day conference. On the evening itself a number of people mentioned how nice it was that Sally and her husband mingled quite happily and appeared very relaxed chatting to people in the bar prior to dinner and joined in conversations quite happily at the dinner table and afterwards. Sally was very happy to have photographs taken and to sign autographs - again something that our guys appreciated. From the point of view of the person who selected Sally as the speaker - I reckon I made a good choice!…” Pam Norton, Synstar
"On behalf of Rolls-Royce, I would like to thank you for your inspirational contribution to our conference. Your portrayal of the formation of your back-up team and the success that it subsequently brought you was very relevant to the theme of our conference. The conference delegates were delighted that, following the dinner, you gave your time for photo-calls and autographs, the finished the evening both inspired and thrilled!" Nick Durham Rolls-Royce Plc
“Sally is an accomplished speaker - her bright and bubbly personality combined with a quick and powerful style of delivery will enliven any event.” PruHealth
"Sally Gunnell provided a fantastic finale to our Women's Network conference. Her talk was engaging and interesting, and was very well-received. The story Sally told of perseverance and self-belief sent out an excellent message to the women of CBRE and I would highly recommend her as a speaker at any type of function." Elizabeth Thetford, Executive Director EMEA Legal & Compliance, CB Richard Ellis Limited
"We have received nothing but praise for the day which was a resounding success. Everybody who I have spoken to found your talk extremely motivating and entertaining.” Sally Davies Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw
“We were absolutely delighted with Sally’s presentation…she hit all the right notes and went down a storm with our people.” Head of HR Randstad UK
“Sally was the consumate professional and we were delighted with her presentation and input” West Midlands Regional Assembly “Living Well in the West Midlands” Launch Event
“I’d like to extend sincerest thanks to you for making our Early Years Professional Celebration Ceremony such a memorable event. We found you passion for early years care and development and your personal experiences inspirational.” Children’s Workforce Development Council
“Sally Gunnell’s speech was excellent with some great focus on the importance of team work”. Magsell 08
"Sally, your talk has had a tremendous effect on the thousands of delegates who attended our conference. You were so relatable and you have inspired them to focus on their objectives and persist until they win. Thank you!!" Jerry Scriven Business Development Consultant International Business Systems

How to book Sally Gunnell as a keynote speaker

How do I book Sally Gunnell for a keynote speech?

You can book Sally Gunnell through London Speaker Bureau by submitting the enquiry form on this page or calling our team. One of our consultants will respond promptly with Sally's current availability, speaking fees and any specific requirements for your event.

What are Sally Gunnell's speaking fees?

Sally Gunnell's speaking fees depend on the event format (in-person or virtual), the location, the length of the engagement and the level of customisation required. Please contact London Speaker Bureau for an up-to-date fee quote for Sally tailored to your event.

What topics does Sally Gunnell speak about?

Sally Gunnell speaks on Celebrity, Inspirational Women, Leadership, Leadership & Motivation, Motivation. Talks can be shaped around your audience, industry and strategic objectives - share your event brief with London Speaker Bureau and we will work with Sally to align the content with your delegates and goals.

Is Sally Gunnell available for international events?

London Speaker Bureau can book Sally Gunnell for events worldwide, subject to Sally's schedule. Please send us your event date, location and format and we will confirm availability and handle travel and logistics on your behalf.

Does Sally Gunnell deliver virtual or online keynotes?

Virtual and hybrid keynotes are now a standard part of the speaking industry. Please contact London Speaker Bureau to confirm whether Sally Gunnell is available to deliver a virtual session for your event and on which platform (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, a bespoke studio or your own).

How long is a typical keynote by Sally Gunnell?

Most keynote speeches run between 45 and 60 minutes, often followed by a 15-30 minute Q&A. Other formats - shorter conference slots, panel appearances or longer workshop sessions - may also be possible. Share your agenda with London Speaker Bureau and we will confirm what Sally can accommodate.

Can Sally Gunnell tailor the keynote to our industry and audience?

London Speaker Bureau will brief Sally Gunnell on your audience profile, sector and objectives so the keynote can be shaped around your event. The level of customisation possible depends on the speaker and the lead time - contact us with your brief and we will confirm what Sally can offer.

What languages does Sally Gunnell present in?

Sally Gunnell delivers keynotes in English. This profile may not list every language available; ask London Speaker Bureau to confirm. If you require simultaneous interpretation or a multilingual format, please mention this in your enquiry and London Speaker Bureau will arrange it for you.

What makes Sally Gunnell a strong fit as a keynote speaker?

Sally Gunnell's areas of expertise include Celebrity, Inspirational Women, Leadership, Leadership & Motivation, Motivation. To get a clear sense of Sally's style, credentials and how they engage an audience, please review the biography, popular talks and any videos or testimonials shown on this page, or request a detailed speaker brief from London Speaker Bureau.

What kind of events can Sally Gunnell speak at?

Sally Gunnell can be booked through London Speaker Bureau for corporate conferences, leadership events, internal team meetings, association gatherings and private client engagements where expertise in Celebrity, Inspirational Women, Leadership, Leadership & Motivation, Motivation is relevant. Details of Sally's background and previous engagements are included in the biography above; contact us if you would like a more detailed list of past clients or case studies.

Does Sally Gunnell offer workshops, panels or fireside chats in addition to keynotes?

Beyond keynote speeches, many of the speakers on our roster also take part in workshops, executive masterclasses, panel discussions and fireside chats. Contact London Speaker Bureau with your preferred format and we will confirm what Sally Gunnell is able to offer alongside or instead of a keynote.

How far in advance should we book Sally Gunnell?

We generally recommend enquiring at least three to twelve months in advance to secure your preferred date with Sally Gunnell, particularly during peak conference seasons. Where possible we also accommodate shorter lead times - please contact London Speaker Bureau to check Sally's current availability for your dates.