Iwan Thomas

Iwan Gwyn Thomas MBE (born January 5, 1974 in Farnborough (London Borough of Bromley) is an Olympic Athlete, 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.

Biography

Iwan Thomas was a proficient BMX bike rider, at one point ranking fourth in Europe

His initial athletics breakthrough came at the World Junior Championships in 1992 as part of the British 4x400 m relay team that finished 5th.Iwan attended Hinchingbrooke School from age 11-16 then 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 / 400 mH runners Roger Black and Kris Akabusi also Todd Bennett. Iwan Thomas was awarded an MBE in 1998.

Olympics

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Iwan 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 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 does not, as of 2008, change results retrospectively more than eight years after the event, the GB team has not been awarded the gold medal as a consequence, although Pettigrew has returned his medals won in that period. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/7434799.stm Pettigrew given two-year dope ban] BBC News 3 June 2008] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jun/05/athletics1 Thomas calls for justice after Pettigrew's disgrace] guardian.co.uk 5th June 2008] .

Injury setbacks

Thomas's 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 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 supporter of Southampton Football Club.

Television work

Thomas worked as a guest presenter of the Childrens' television show 'Best Of Friends', alongside Darren Campbell and Zoe Salmon.

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".

Thomas can also be seen as a regular guest of Channel 5's "the Wright Stuff". On 18th 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 none specific about the particular program but did admit that the presenter was Eamon Holmes.

References

External links

* [http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/athlete=20044/BioPopUp.html IAAF athletics stats]
* [http://www.nuff-respect.co.uk/clients_iwan.htm Nuff Respect Agency bio]
* [http://www.iwanthomas.co.uk Iwan's home page]
* [http://www.sprint-start.co.uk Sprint Start - a scheme to improve children's fitness]