Lee McConnell attended
Holyrood R.C. Secondary School in
Glasgow before graduating from
Loughborough University in 2000 with a degree in Sports Science. Originally a
high jump (becoming Scottish champion in 1998, 1999 and 2000), before turning to the 400 m and then the
400 metres hurdles (winning
Commonwealth Bronze in a
PB time). Internationally, in
2002, McConnell won a
bronze medal at the
2002 European championships in the
400 m, then added a
Commonwealth Games silver in the
400 m. In
2003 at the
European Cup, McConnell came second in both the 400 m and the 4 × 400 m relay. She went to finish fifth in the
400 m final at the
2003 World Championships. Her personal best time over 400 m is 50.82 seconds. After the
2007 season, McConnell decided to give up hurdling, as her transition from the flat had not been as successful as she had intended, and she returned to the 400 m flat. At domestic level, McConnell later won the British 400 m title in 2008 and 2010, the British Inter-Counties 200 metres title in 2009,
Relays In addition to winning medals in individual contests, she has been a fairly successful
relay runner. McConnell was known for participating in the Great Britain 4 × 400 m relay team at major events. McConnell won bronze medals in the 4 × 400 m relay at the
2005 and
2007 World Championships. She ran the first leg in a team with
Donna Fraser,
Nicola Sanders and
Christine Ohuruogu in 2005 and ran the third leg in team with Ohuruogu,
Marilyn Okoro and Sanders in 2007, which a set a national record. McConnell alongside Fraser,
Catherine Murphy, and Ohuruogu finished fourth in the
4 × 400 m relay at the
2004 Olympics, but could inherit bronze medals from this event as American athlete
Crystal Cox was later found guilty of
doping offences. Cox and not the US team had her medal revoked but that could still change. At the
2012 Olympics, she ran the second leg as Great Britain finished fifth in the
4 × 400 m relay. She has also accumulated relay medals from the 4 × 400 m event from the
Universiade Games (in
2001), the
European Championships (in
2002 and
2010, the latter was upgraded to silver from bronze) She returned to training nine weeks after giving birth to her son with a view to competing at the
2014 Commonwealth Games in her hometown of Glasgow – however she announced her immediate retirement from athletics in April 2014. She also received the George Dallas Trophy in 2002. During the
SAAA years, she was previously awarded the Coronation Cup in 2002 & 2003 for being the outstanding Scottish Athlete of that year, the 2001 Crabbie Cup for most meritorious performance at the Scottish Championships, == International competitions ==