Gwen Griffiths

Last updated

Gwen Griffiths
Personal information
Born Durban, South Africa
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight50 kg (110 lb)
Sport
CountryFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
SportAthletics
Event(s) 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)1500 m: 4:04.73
3000 m: 8:44.64
5000 m: 15:08.05
Medal record
African Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1993 Durban 3000 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1992 Belle-Vue 1500 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1992 Belle-Vue 3000 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1993 Durban 1500 m

Gwendoline "Gwen" Griffiths South African runner who specialized in the 1500 and 5000 metres, later the marathon.

She was born in Durban with the surname van Rensburg, then was married Griffiths and later van Lingen

She took the bronze medals in 1500 and 3000 metres at the 1992 African Championships, and a 1500 silver and 3000 gold at the 1993 African Championships. [1] She was selected as Africa's representative in 1500 metres at the 1992 World Cup, and finished fifth there. In 1993 she ran in the heats at the World Championships, both 1500 and 3000 metres. [2] The next year she won a 1500 metres bronze medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. [3] She also placed lowly at the 1993, 1995 and 1996 World Cross Country Championships. However, in the team competition, South Africa places as high as fourth in 1993; Griffiths was the fourth runner behind Zola Pieterse, Elana Meyer and Colleen de Reuck.

Griffiths reached a high point in global events as she finished eighth in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships and ninth in the 1500 metres at the 1996 Olympic Games. She also competed at the 1997 World Indoor Championships without reaching the final. [4] [2] She became South African 1500 metres champion in 1993, 1995 and 1996. In 1998 she changed to the 10,000 metres and half marathon and became South African champion in both events (she formerly also won the 10,000 metres in 1990); she then won the marathon in 1999, 2000 and 2001. [5]

In the middle distances, her personal best times were 4:04.73 minutes in the 1500 metres, achieved in August 1993 in Monaco; and 4:34.39 minutes in the mile run, achieved in July 1994 in Gateshead. In the long distances she had 8:44.64 minutes in the 3000 metres, achieved in June 1995 in Rome; and 15:08.05 minutes in the 5000 metres, achieved at the 1995 World Championships in Göteborg. Her best marathon time was 2:36:25 hours from the 1999 South African Championships in Cape Town. [2]

Related Research Articles

Pauline Konga is a retired Kenyan long-distance runner. At the 1996 Summer Olympics she won the silver medal in the 5000 metres, making her the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic medal.

Nikolina Pavlova Shtereva is a retired Bulgarian middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 and 1500 metres. She is best known for her silver medal in 800 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and at the European Indoor Championships she won gold medals in 1976 and 1979 and a bronze medal in 1981. She won fourteen national titles in Bulgaria, and is still the Bulgarian record holder in the 800 metres.

Silvia Sommaggio is a retired Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres as well as cross-country and road running.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Buchleitner</span> Austrian long-distance runner

Michael Buchleitner is an Austrian long-distance runner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Kalmer</span> South African long-distance runner

René Kalmer is a South African runner who has competed over distances ranging from 800 metres to the marathon. She represented South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics, running in the 1500 metres. She then represented South Africa again at the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the marathon.

Enrique Molina Vargas is a retired Spanish runner who specialized in the 5000 metres.

Lyudmila Nikolayevna Petrova is a Russian long-distance runner, who represented her native country at two Summer Olympics: 1996 and 2004. She won the 2000 edition of the New York City Marathon.

Mohamed Issangar is a retired Moroccan long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres.

Féthi Baccouche is a retired Tunisian long-distance runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase, the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres.

Rachid Habchaoui is a retired Algerian long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anikó Kálovics</span> Hungarian long-distance runner

Anikó Kálovics is a Hungarian runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres and the marathon. She is a four-time Olympian (2000–2012) and has won both the Venice Marathon and Italian Marathon.

Gloria Marconi is an Italian long-distance runner.

Annette Sergent is a French former long-distance runner. She represented her country three times at the Summer Olympics, but it was in cross country running that she had her greatest success. She became the first Frenchwoman to win a world title in the sport at the 1987 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and won for a second time in 1989. In addition to these victories, she made eleven appearances at the competition and placed third in both 1986 and 1988.

Naomi Sakashita is a retired Japanese runner who specialized in the 5000 metres and marathon.

Carsten Eich is a retired (East) German runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres and the marathons. He is an eight-time German champion and national record holder in the half marathon.

Margaret Ngotho is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who competed in cross-country running and track events. Her highest achievement was a bronze medal in the short race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2000. She was three times a team medalist at the competition for Kenya, winning gold in 1991 and 1995 then finally silver in 2001.

Wei Li is a Chinese former long-distance runner. She was a medallist at the 1994 IAAF World Cup and the 1997 East Asian Games. She represented China at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 1997 World Championships in Athletics and the 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She was twice a Chinese national champion.

Fabiana Cristine da Silva is a Brazilian female former distance runner who competed in the 800 metres up to the half marathon. She competed six times at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and also represented her country at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and the 2011 Pan American Games.

Barnabás Bene is a Hungarian middle- and long-distance runner who has specialized in the 1500 metres to the half marathon.

Mustapha Bamouh is a retired Moroccan runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres.

References

  1. ↑ "African Championships". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Gwen Griffiths-van Lingen at World Athletics OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  3. ↑ "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Athletics (Women)". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Gwen Griffiths". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "South African Championships". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.