 Connor in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 17 October 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Derby Athletics Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best | 1:00:55 (half marathon) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ben Connor (born 17 October 1992) [1] is a British runner who won the Night of 10,000m PBs event at the 2019 British Athletics Championships and the 2017 English National Cross Country Championships. Connor competed in the marathon event at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Connor is a member of Derby Athletics Club. [2] He has trained with Ray Treacy in the US, [3] and in Manchester, United Kingdom. [3] [2] From 2019, Connor has been self-coached. [3]
In 2017, Connor won the English National Cross Country Championships. [3] In the same year, he came sixth at the 2017 European Cross Country Championships, [4] and fifth at the Night of 10,000m PBs race. [2] In 2018, Connor came eighth at the Barcelona Half Marathon in a personal best time of 1:01:12. It was the eighth fastest time in history by a Briton. [5] Connor was a favourite for the 2018 Night of 10,000m PBs race. [2]
In 2019, Connor won the British Championships Night of 10K PBs event. [3] In the same year, he also won the Podium 5k event, [6] and competed in the 5,000 metres event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. [3] In 2020, he ran a half-marathon personal best time of 1:00:55 in Antrim. He finished third in the race, and it was the fourth fastest half marathon time by a Briton ever. [7] Later in the year, he competed in the 2020 London Marathon, his first ever marathon event. [3] Connor was the second highest finishing Briton in the race. He finished 10 seconds quicker than the Olympic qualifying time. [8] Connor and Jonny Mellor had been battling for most of the race, before Mellor dropped Connor with 6 miles (9.7 km) to go to take the British winner's prize at the event. [9] Connor finished 15th overall in the race. [10] Later in the year, he came fourth in a cross country race in Lancashire after losing a shoe early in the event. [11]
Connor competed at the 2021 British Athletics Marathon and 20km Walk Trial. The qualification criteria for the Olympics was to meet the qualifying time in a race since January 2019, and to finish in the top two at the trial event. He finished second in the men's marathon race, and therefore qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. [12] Connor spent the race in the leading pack with Mo Aadan and Dewi Griffiths, but they were overtaken by Chris Thompson prior to the final lap of the race. [12] He did not finish the Olympic marathon race. [13] Connor finished fifth at the 2022 Night of 10,000m PBs race. He was the third British finisher. [14]
Connor is in a relationship with fellow runner Lily Partridge. [3]
Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the gold medal in both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5,000 m.
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00:35. He has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history.
Suguru Osako is a Japanese long-distance runner. He won the 10,000 metres gold medal at the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen and holds the Asian junior record for the half marathon. He held the Japanese National Record for the marathon of 2:05:29 set at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, where he finished fourth.
Gladys Cherono Kiprono is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and road running events. She became the first woman to win both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres at the African Championships in 2012. She is a three-time winner of the Berlin Marathon and the 8th fastest women marathoner of all time.
Stephen Kiprotich is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is an Olympic marathon champion, having won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Kiprotich also won a gold at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. After Ethiopia's Gezahegne Abera, he is the second person to follow an Olympic marathon title with a world championship gold medal for the same event.
The 2015 London Marathon was the 35th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 26 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Ethiopian Tigist Tufa. The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships marathon events were also held during the race. The men's wheelchair race was won by Josh George from the United States and the women's wheelchair race was won by American Tatyana McFadden. McFadden set a course record for the second year running.
Mule Wasihun Lakew is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events up to the marathon distance. He was a team silver medallist at the 2016 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. Mule placed third at the 2019 London Marathon. He holds a marathon best of 2:03:16 hours.
Rodgers Kwemoi Chumo is a Kenyan long-distance runner specialising in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. He is the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist at the longer distance.
Shura Kitata Tola is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and half-marathon. He has raced in several World Marathon Majors, including the 2020 London Marathon, where he won the race in a time of 2:05:41, beating Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, and the 2018 London Marathon where he finished in second place behind him. His other best performances include the 2017 Rome Marathon and 2017 Frankfurt Marathon victories and second places at the 2018 and 2022 New York City Marathon.
Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Marathons, the 2019 and 2020 London Marathons and the 2021 Tokyo Marathon. Kosgei was the marathon world record holder for women running in a mixed-sex race, with a time of 2:14:04 achieved on 13 October 2019 at the Chicago Marathon. She won the silver medal in the marathon event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 2019 London Marathon was the 39th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on 28 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who took his fourth London Marathon victory in a time of 2:02:37, the second fastest marathon ever at that point. The women's race was won by Brigid Kosgei, also of Kenya, in 2:18:20. American Daniel Romanchuk won the men's wheelchair title in 1:33:38 while Switzerland's Manuela Schär won the women's title in 1:44:09. Changes were made to the course to make it more environmentally friendly; the number of plastic bottles used was reduced and biodegradable alternatives were used instead.
The men's marathon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics started at 07:00 on 8 August 2021 in Sapporo, Japan. 106 athletes from 46 nations competed. The previous Olympic champion, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, successfully defended his title, with Dutch and Belgian athletes Abdi Nageeye and Bashir Abdi gaining silver and bronze, respectively. Kipchoge was the third man to repeat as Olympic marathon champion, after Abebe Bikila and Waldemar Cierpinski. The Netherlands and Belgium earned their first men's marathon medals since 1980 and 1976, respectively.
Amos Kipruto is a Kenyan long-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the men's marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. Kipruto took victory at the 2022 London Marathon.
The 2020 London Marathon was the 40th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on 4 October 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postponed from 26 April and only allowed elite participants; the mass participation event was cancelled. The event used a different course from usual, consisting of multiple laps around St James's Park.
Jack Rayner is an Australian long-distance runner. He qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He ran in the men's marathon but failed to finish due to cramping in both his legs after running 500 meters.
The 2021 Tokyo Marathon was the fifteenth edition of the annual marathon race in Tokyo. The competition was held on Sunday 6 March 2022, having been postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The elite events were won by Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei respectively, whilst the wheelchair races were won by Swiss athlete Marcel Hug and Japanese competitor Tsubasa Kina. Around 20,000 people competed in the mass participation event.
The 2021 London Marathon was the 41st running of the annual London Marathon on 3 October 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event.
The 2021 British Athletics Marathon and 20 km Walk Trial was held on 26 March 2021 as a trial event for British athletes to qualify for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It was the first time since 1980 that a dedicated marathon trial event was held, and the courses consisted of multiple laps around Kew Gardens in London.
The 2021 British Athletics Championships was the national championships in outdoor track and field for athletes in the United Kingdom, which also served as the main qualifying event for athletics competitors for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics. In addition, the Championships included a number of parasports events, with a total of 36 competitors in these competitions. On 29 June 2021, UK Athletics announced 65 athletes that would compete for Team GB at the Olympics, taking the total number of British athletics competitors at the Games to 72. In July 2021, four more athletes qualified for the Games based on their World Athletics rankings.
The 2023 London Marathon was the 43rd running of the annual London Marathon on 23 April 2023. It was the first time since 2019 that the event was run in the spring, as the previous three races were run in autumn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
