She competed at her first Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984, finishing eighth in the heptathlon with 6127 points. In 1986, she reached her peak at both heptathlon and long jump. In May, she achieved a score of 6259 in Arles. As of 2014, this still ranks her sixth on the UK all-time heptathlon list. Later in 1986, she won the UK long jump title, before going on to win a bronze medal in the heptathlon for England at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, with a score of 5823. She also finished fourth in the long jump. Two weeks later at the European Championships in Stuttgart, she finished ninth in the heptathlon with 6173. That score included a lifetime best long jump performance of 6.70 m.