Roger Black

For Roger Black, the insult comedian, see Yucko the Clown

Medal record
Men’s Athletics
Competitor for Great Britain
Olympic Games
Silver	1996 Atlanta	400 m
Silver	1996 Atlanta	4x400 m relay
Bronze	1992 Barcelona	4x400 m relay
World Championships
Gold	1991 Tokyo	4x400 m relay
Gold	1997 Athens	4x400 m relay
Silver	1987 Rome	4x400 m relay
Silver	1991 Tokyo	400 m
European Championships
Gold	1986 Stuttgart	400 m
Gold	1986 Stuttgart	4x400 m relay
Gold	1990 Split	400 m
Gold	1990 Split	4x400 m relay
Gold	1994 Helsinki	4x400 m relay
Silver	1994 Helsinki	400 m
Competitor for England
Commonwealth Games
Gold	1986 Edinburgh	400m
Gold	1986 Edinburgh	4x400m relay

Roger Anthony Black MBE (born 31 March 1966) is a retired British athlete. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4x400 metres relay gold medals at both the World and European Championships. Since retiring from athletics, he has worked as a television presenter and motivational speaker.

Early life

Born in Gosport, England, to David (a doctor) and Thelma, with a twin sister Julia, he attended Portsmouth Grammar School, becoming Head Boy in 1983/84. Black has a collection of fifteen medals from major senior athletics competitions to add to his two European junior championship gold medals, including his 1996 Olympic silver which he keeps on his person at all times^{[citation needed]}.

Athletics career

He set the national 400 metre record of 44.37 seconds on 3 July 1996 in Lausanne, Switzerland but that was subsequently broken a year later by Iwan Thomas who shaved 0.01s from Black's time. Fellow GB athlete Mark Richardson also equalled Black's mark in 1998. Black's time stands as the second fastest of all time recorded by a British runner. Black was also part of the British 4 x 400 relay team which upset the strong favourites USA to win the gold medal in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo.

Black came second in the individual 400m in Tokyo to Antonio Pettigrew. Pettigrew later admitted the use of performance enhancing drugs from 1997 onwards in June 2008. No clear evidence has emerged - and neither has Pettigrew admitted - using performance enhancing drugs during the 1991 season.

His greatest individual achievement in track and field was in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when in the final of the 400m he finished in second place behind Michael Johnson, winning the silver medal in the process. However, partly due to injuries, he never rediscovered this form, and subsequently retired from the sport only two years later in 1998 after he was not selected for the 1998 European Championships.

Black was coached by Mike Smith and Mike Whittingham, and was sponsored by Reebok.

1997 World Championships

The World Championships' 4x400m originally saw the USA beat Great Britain by 0.18 seconds in a thrilling finale. Subsequently, US athlete, Antonio Pettigrew admitted to using performance enhancing substances during this period.

On the 7th January 2010, it was announced that Great Britain's 1997 World Championship 4x400m relay team are to be awarded the gold medal due to the disqualification of the USA team.

Awards

In 1995 Southampton University gave Black an honorary degree and he was also rewarded by Queen Elizabeth II with an MBE.

Television career

In 1998 Black appeared on the children's news programme Newsround with fellow athlete Iwan Thomas reporting on childhood obesity.

Black has worked regularly for the BBC on programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Grandstand. In 2004 he was one of the celebrities that took part in the pro-am dancing contest Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. In September 2006, he took part in BBC One's Celebrity MasterChef programme, reaching the final along with Matt Dawson and Hardeep Singh Kohli.

Writing

Black has written an autobiography, published by Andre Deutsch, entitled How Long's the Course?, ISBN 0-233-99644-3

Personal life

Black has been married twice: formerly to French (Martiniquan) athlete Elsa de Vassoigne, with whom he has a daughter, Isabelle (marriage dissolved by divorce), and currently to Julia Burgess, with whom he had twins boys George and Max (Manduvil) in 2006.

Despite being born in Portsmouth, and attending the prestigious Portsmouth Grammar School, Black is a supporter of Southampton FC.

Achievements

• 1985
  • European Junior Championships - Cottbus, Germany
    • 400 metres gold medal - 45.36 seconds
    • 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 3:07.18
• 1986
  • Commonwealth Games - Edinburgh, Scotland
    • 400 m. gold medal - 45.57 sec.
    • 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 3:07.19
  • European Championships - Stuttgart, Germany
    • 400 m. gold medal - 44.59 sec.
    • 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:59.84
• 1987
  • World Championships - Rome, Italy
    • 4 x 400 m. relay silver medal
• 1990
  • European Championships - Split, Yugoslavia
    • 400 m. gold medal - 45.08 sec.
    • 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:58.22
• 1991
  • World Championships - Tokyo, Japan
    • 400 m. silver medal - 44.62 sec.
    • 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:57.53
• 1992
  • Summer Olympics - Barcelona, Spain
    • 4 x 400 m. relay bronze medal - 2:59.73
• 1994
  • European Championships - Helsinki, Finland
    • 400 m. silver medal - 45.2 sec.
    • 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:59.13
• 1996
  • Summer Olympics - Atlanta, USA
    • 400 m. silver medal - 44.41 sec.
    • 4 x 400 m. relay silver medal - 2:56.60
• 1997
  • World Championships - Athens, Greece
    • 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:56.65

External links

• Roger Black Homepage
• IAAF profile for Roger Black