Iwan Thomas

Medal record
Iwan Thomas
Men's athletics
Competitor for Great Britain
Olympic Games
Silver	1996 Atlanta	4x400 m relay
World Championships
Gold	1997 Athens	4x400 m relay
European Championships
Gold	1998 Budapest	400 m
Gold	1998 Budapest	4x400 m relay
EAA European Cup
Gold	1995	4x400 m relay
Gold	1997	4x400 m relay
Commonwealth Games
Gold	1998 Kuala Lumpur	400 m
Bronze	1998 Kuala Lumpur	4x400 m
Silver	2002 Manchester	4x400 m
IAAF World Cup
Gold	1998 Johannesburg	400 m
Silver	1998 Johannesburg	4x400 m

Iwan Gwyn Thomas MBE (born 5 January 1974 in Farnborough, London Borough of Bromley) is a sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 m, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is the current UK record holder at 400 m with a time of 44.36 seconds and is a former European and Commonwealth games champion. He is also the current holder of the Commonwealth Games record in the 400 m.

Biography

His initial athletics breakthrough came at the World Junior Championships in 1992 as part of the British 4x400 m relay team that finished 5th. Thomas Stamford School and West London Institute of Higher Education, where he studied Sports Science and Geography. While still at university, he took part in the 1994 Commonwealth Games 400 m where he reached the semi-finals, representing Wales. From there, he was selected to represent Britain in the relay at the 1995 European Athletics Cup and secured his first championship gold medal.

Thomas's coach for much of his running career was Mike Smith, formerly coach to British 400 m runners Roger Black and Todd Bennett and also hurdler Kris Akabusi. Thomas was awarded an MBE in 1998.

Olympics

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Thomas finished 5th in the final and took a silver medal in the 4x400 m event. He also represented Britain in the 2000 Olympics but was not selected for the individual event and despite running the fastest leg for the British team, did not secure a medal.

World Championships

Thomas was a member of the Great Britain 4x400m team at the 1997 World Athletics Championships in Athens. The team (Iwan Thomas, Roger Black, Jamie Baulch and Mark Richardson) finished second by 0.18 seconds to the United States. However, in 2008, US team member Antonio Pettigrew, who ran the second leg of the final, testified in the court case against trainer Trevor Graham that he had been aided by performance-enhancing substances between 1997 and 2001, including the 1997 World Championships. As the International Amateur Athletics Federation did not, as of 2008, change results retrospectively more than eight years after the event, the GB team was not awarded the gold medal retrospectively, although Pettigrew has returned his medals won in that period.

On 7 January 2010 it was announced that Great Britain's 1997 World Championship 4x400m relay team were to be awarded the gold medal they were denied by the disqualified USA team. New medals were minted for the ceremony, as not all of the American quartet returned the originals. Thomas received his gold medal in May 2010 in a presentation by Alun Ffred Jones at Cardiff Bay.

Injury setbacks

Thomas' career was hampered by injury including a stress fracture to his ankle in 1999 that required telescopic surgery. He was again injured in 2003 with damage to his Achilles. Further injury in 2004 ruled him out of the 2004 Olympic Games. Thomas was selected in 2006 for the Welsh team for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, but was unable to compete due to an injury.

Outside athletics

Personal life

Thomas lives in Southampton. After winning Deadline, he bought himself a Ducati 1098 motorcycle. He is a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, even though he may latterly also have become a supporter of Southampton Football Club, and in 2010 he became an ambassador for The Saints Foundation, the charity set up by Southampton FC.

Television work

Thomas worked as a guest presenter of the Children's television show 'Best Of Friends', alongside Darren Campbell and Zöe Salmon.^{[citation needed]}

He is a regular panelist on BBC Two's Through The Keyhole, was a contestant on Superstars on both BBC One and Five and took part in BBC One's Hole In The Wall. He has also been a contestant on BBC One's Celebrity MasterChef, and The Real Hustle.^{[citation needed]}

Thomas can also be seen as a regular guest of Channel 5's The Wright Stuff. On 18 July 2008 Thomas admitted that he once fell asleep on live TV after "having a few sneaky beers in the Green Room before the show". He was not specific about the programme but did admit that the presenter was Eamonn Holmes. He starred in Daily Cooks Challenge as a judge alongside presenter Antony Worrall Thompson.^{[citation needed]}

Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Total Wipeout which aired on 18 September 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Egg Heads which aired on 22 December 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Iwan took part in a celebrity version of the children's TV show Jungle Run.^{[citation needed]}

Other activities

Iwan Thomas joined the Ecover Sailing Team in 2009 as part of an Extreme 40 event. He was the 5th man on their boat on 31 July, racing catamarans around Egypt Point in Cowes, for a practice day of the iShares cup.

External links

• IAAF athletics stats
• Nuff Respect Agency bio
• Iwan's home page
• Sprint Start – a scheme to improve children's fitness

Awards
Preceded by Scott Gibbs	BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 1998	Succeeded by Colin Jackson