Iwan Gwyn Thomas ( born Iwan Gwyn Thomas , born January 5, 1974 in Huntington, Cambridgeshire , UK ) is a 400-meter Welsh runner , world champion, two-time European champion, vice champion of the 1996 Olympic Games . The current record holder of Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries at a distance of 400 meters (44.36 seconds).
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Biography
Ivan Thomas was an experienced BMX cyclist, once he even took fourth place in Europe.
For most of his runner career, Thomas's trainer was Mike Smith, who had previously trained British 400m runners Roger Black and Todd Bennett , as well as hurdler Chris Akabushi .
Olympic Games
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ivan showed 5th time in the 400-meter finals (silver was won by his teammate Roger Black). Together with Black, Mark Richardson and Jamie Bolch, Ivan won silver in the final of the relay 4x400 meters (the British lost 0.61 seconds to the US team). A year later, at the World Championships in Athens, the British in the same composition won gold in the relay 4x400 meters (the Americans who won first place were then disqualified).
In 1998, at the European Championships in Budapest, Thomas won 2 gold: in the 400-meter race he won more than half a second in the final against Robert Matskowiak, and in the 4 Γ 400 meter relay race the British (Mark Hilton fled with them black) in the fight for gold won 0.2 seconds against Poland.
Thomas represented Great Britain at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , but only fled there in the relay, in which the British remained only fifth.
Failures
Thomas's career has long been hindered by an ankle fracture, which he received in 1999, which required telescopic surgery. The next failure occurred with him in 2003, he damaged his muscles of the foot. Because of this, he was unable to take part in the 2004 Summer Olympics .
Thomas was later selected to the Welsh national team to participate in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne , but was unable to compete due to his injury.
Beyond Athletics
Personal life
Thomas lives in Southampton . In football, he is a fan of Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur .
Television
Thomas participated as a guest presenter on the children's television show Best Of Friends . Also on his account, participation in various entertainment projects of British television.
In 2009, Ivan took part in the iShares cup sailing regatta on an Extreme 40 catamaran as part of the Ecover Sailing Team .
Notes
Links
- Website by Ivan Thomas
- Ivan Thomas - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com
- Ivan Thomas - profile on the IAAF website