| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 20 November 1996 Hobart, Tasmania |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and Field |
| Event | Sprinting |
Jacob Despard (born 20 November 1996) is an Australian sprinter. He competed at the 2024 Olympic Games. [1]
From Tasmania, he was a keen cricketer in his youth and specialised as a fast bowler, before focusing on athletics. [2] [3] [4]
He made his junior international debut at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Eugene, Oregon. [5] He relocated from Tasmania to Melbourne and shortly afterwards won the Stawell Gift race in 2018. [6] He made his senior Australian debut at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. [2]
He ran as part of the Australian 4x100m relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. [7] [8] He was a member of Australia's 4x100-metre men's relay team at the 2024 Olympic Games that ran a time of 38.12 seconds to set a new national record. [9] [10] [11]
He finished third behind Lachlan Kennedy and Josh Azzopardi over 60 metres at the Australian short track national championships in Sydney on 1 February 2025. [12] He was selected for the Australian team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. [13]
