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Marlon Devonish

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Marlon Devonish
Devonish at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki
Personal information
Nationality England
 Great Britain
Born (1976-06-01) 1 June 1976 (age 48)
Coventry, England
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
SportRunning
Event(s)100 metres, 200 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100m: 10.06 s (Lausanne 2007)

150m: 14.87 s (Manchester 2011) NR

200m: 20.19 s (Manchester 2002)
Devonish (right) in the starting blocks before the 150 metres race at the Manchester City Games.

Marlon Ronald Devonish, MBE (born 1 June 1976) is an English former sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres.[1]

Early life

Devonish attended Caludon Castle School in Coventry.[2]

Career

He is a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club and is coached by Tony Lester. Early in his career he was successful at both 100 and 200-metre distances, winning English Schools and European Junior titles at both, but in later years he concentrated mostly on the longer distance. He was also a regular member of both the British and, at the Commonwealth Games, English 4 x 100-metre sprint relay teams, to some considerable success. He is a current Commonwealth Games record holder in the relay event.

The most notable achievement of his career came at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. There Devonish, along with Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell and Mark Lewis-Francis, won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 m. relay, where the quartet defeated the pre-race favourites, United States team, by just 0.01 seconds, in a season's best of 38.07.[3]

At the British Championships (and team trials for the 2006 European Championships) in July 2006, Devonish became the first man since Linford Christie in 1988 to win both the 100 m and 200 m races at the event.[4] At the championship finals, he took the bronze medal in the 200 m.

Devonish retained his 100 m title at the British Championships the following year. For the 2007 season Devonish improved his performance in the 100 m with a new personal best and competed in this event at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka rather than the 200 m which he had previously specialised in. Devonish finished 6th in the 100 m final.

Devonish represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He competed at the 4x100 metres relay together with Simeon Williamson, Tyrone Edgar and Craig Pickering. In their qualification heat they were disqualified and eliminated.[1] He also took part in the 200 metres individual, finishing first with a time of 20.49 seconds in his first round heat. With 20.43 seconds in his second round he only placed fourth in his heat, but his time was among the four best losing times and enough to qualify for the semi-finals. There he came to 20.57 seconds and the seventh time in his race, which was not enough for the final.[1]

He competed at the 2009 Manchester City Games, finishing second in the 150 metres final in 15.07 seconds. He was beaten by Usain Bolt who ran a world best-beating time.[5]

On 22 August 2009, Devonish was a member of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland men's 4x100m relay team that took bronze at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin with a season's best of 38.02. Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Simeon Williamson and Tyrone Edgar ran the other legs.

On 16 July 2013, Devonish was bought in as sprint coach at Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester.[6]

International competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing the  United Kingdom and  England
1994 World Junior Championships Lisbon, Portugal 1st (h)[7] 4×100m relay 39.92
1995 European Junior Championships Nyíregyháza, Hungary 1st 200m 21.04
1st 4×100m relay 39.43
1997 European U23 Championships Turku, Finland 3rd 100m 10.32 w (wind: +2.8 m/s)
1st 4x100 m relay 38.99
1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st 4x100 m relay 38.20
1999 European Cup Paris, France 1st 4x100 m relay 38.16
World Championships Seville, Spain 2nd 4x100 m relay 37.73
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, England 2nd 200m 20.19
1st 4x100 m relay 38.62
European Championships Munich, Germany 3rd 200m 20.24
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, England 1st 200m 20.62
2004 Summer Olympics Athens, Greece 1st 4x100 m relay 38.07
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 4x100 m relay 38.27
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 3rd 200m 20.54
1st 4x100 m relay 38.91
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 3rd 4x100 m relay 37.90

Personal bests

Distance Time Wind Location Date
100 m 10.06 sec + 1.3 m/s Lausanne 10 July 2007
200 m 20.19 sec + 1.4 m/s Manchester 29 July 2002

References

  1. ^ a b c Athlete biography: Marlon Devonish, beijing2008.cn, ret: 29 August 2008
  2. ^ Clemons, Pete (16 February 2016). "Caludon Castle School's music heritage stretches far and wide". Coventry Telegraph. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  3. ^ Rob Bagchi (22 February 2012). "50 stunning Olympic moments No15: Great Britain's 2004 relay victory". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Devonish storms to sprint double. BBC Sport (16 July 2006). Retrieved on 13 May 2009.
  5. ^ Superb Bolt storms to 150m record. BBC Sport (17 May 2009). Retrieved on 17 May 2009.
  6. ^ "Marlon Devonish: Olympic athlete to train Gloucester squad". BBC News. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  7. ^ Competed only in the heat.