Mark Rowland
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| Born | 7 March 1963 Watersfield, West Sussex | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Mark Robert Rowland (born 7 March 1963 in Watersfield, West Sussex, England) is a retired male distance-runner from the United Kingdom, who specialised in the 3000m steeplechase.[1]
Athletics career
[edit]Rowland came third in the men's men's 3000 m Steeplechase at the 1988 Olympics behind the Kenyan competitors Julius Kariuki (gold) and Peter Koech (silver). His time was 8:07.96 minutes which remains a British record. Rowland became the eighth and, thus far, final British athlete to pick up a medal in the steeplechase event at the Olympics. His post-race interview at the track-side was famous for his quote:
I just kept telling myself to dig, dig, dig—and I did it! I've got a bloody medal![2]
Two years later, Rowland was beaten to the gold in a sprint finish in the same event at the European Championships in Split by the Italian athlete Francesco Panetta. He also represented England in the 5,000 metres event, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.[3][4][5]
Coaching career
[edit]After retiring, he became a coach to many promising young British steeplechasers and was a steeplechase and middle-distance coach for UK Athletics. While coaching professionally in the United Kingdom, he coached Michael East to his 6th place finish in the 1500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2008, Rowland became head coach of the Oregon Track Club Elite team, where he coached a number of athletes to Olympic and World Championships medals and finalist positions, including British middle-distance runner Jemma Simpson, American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds and distance runner Lauren Fleshman, Botswana middle-distance runner Nijel Amos, Burundian middle-distance runner Francine Niyonsaba, and Kenyan distance runner Sally Kipyego, among others.[6] In 2022, Rowland left Oregon Track Club to become an endurance coach at Athletics Canada's west hub in Victoria, British Columbia.[7]
International competitions
[edit]| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Great Britain /  England
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| 1987 | European Indoor Championships | Liévin, France | 4th | 3000 m | 7:54.64 |
| World Indoor Championships | Indianapolis, United States | 4th | 3000 m | 8:04.27 | |
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | 3rd | 3000 m steeplechase | 8:07.96 |
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 7th | 5000 m | 13:35.69 |
| European Championships | Split, Yugoslavia | 2nd | 3000 m steeplechase | 8:13.27 | |
| 1994 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 4th | 3000 m steeplechase | 8:26.00 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Athlete Profile". www.thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ "WOW: The #RowlandTempo". 11 March 2015.
- ^ "1990 Athletes". Team England.
- ^ "England team in 1990". Commonwealth Games Federation.
- ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
- ^ Laggner, Kyle (15 December 2008). "Former Olympian to coach Oregon Track Club Elite". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "Prominent Endurance Coach Mark Rowland Joins Athletics Canada West Hub". athletics.ca. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
External links
[edit]- Mark Rowland at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- gbrathletics
- 1963 births
- Living people
- People from Coldwaltham
- British male steeplechase runners
- English male steeplechase runners
- English male middle-distance runners
- British male middle-distance runners
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- European Athletics Championships medalists
- Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games competitors for England
- People educated at Midhurst Grammar School