Matthew Clarke (runner)

Last updated

Matthew Clarke
Matthew Clarke 20181021-007.jpg
Clarke in 2018
Personal information
Nationality Australian
Born (1995-04-29) 29 April 1995 (age 29)
Alma mater La Trobe University
OccupationPodiatrist & Professional 3000m Steeplechaser
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event3000m Steeplechase
ClubOld Xaverians Athletics Club
TeamASICS Team Tempo
Coached byAdam Didyk
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking34
Personal best8:22.13
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Oceania Athletics Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2024 Suva 3000 m s'chase

Matthew Clarke (born 29 April 1995) in Melbourne, Australia is an Australian Olympic athlete who competes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. [1]

Contents

Early years

Clarke enjoyed long distance running as a child but gave it up in year 8. After finishing school at the age of 19 he found the motivation to return. By the time he was 20 he was running around 3:49 (1500m) and 8:32 (3000m) whilst still studying Podiatry at La Trobe University. Three years later he ran 3:44 over 1500m when he came ninth at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games trials. In June 2018, Clarke travelled to the US as a guide for Paralympian Jaryd Clifford. He raced as well and clocked a PB in the 1500m at Portland. [2]

Clarke works as a Sports Podiatrist at the Sports and Arthritic clinic (SPARC) in Mile End, SA. He is coached by Adam Didyk as a member of ASICS Team Tempo elite. Clarke lives with his wife Annabel Kitto who is also a middle distance runner. Clarke studied Podiatry at La Trobe University. [3]

Achievements

At the age of 23 Clarke competing in a new event, the steeplechase.He ran 8:58 in January, 2019 and 8:38.68 on his second attempt in February. He was placed fifth at nationals and earned selection in the Australian team for the World University Games. Clarke came tenth in the final. He then clocked 28:39.02 for the 10,000m at Zatopek, Melbourne. [2] (Named after Emil Zatopek, the Czech long-distance runner, it is the most prestigious track race in Australia). [4]

On 18 June 2021 in Townsville Clarke ran a new personal best in the 3000 metres steeplechase of 8:22.62, the second fastest time ran by an Australian, in Australia and 10 seconds faster than his previous best. 7 days later, Clarke backed up to run another 3000m steeplechase on the Gold Coast in a time of 8:22.13 [5] With that personal best it also placed him as the fifth all time Australian for the 3000m steeplechase.

Clarke qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where he competed in the Men's 3000m steeplechase. He ran fourteenth in his heat with a time of 8:42.37 and did not qualify for the final. [6]

He competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023. [7]

He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the 3000 metres steeplechase. [8]

Related Research Articles

Jerzy Chromik was a foremost long-distance runner from Poland.

Graeme Vincent Fell is a male former 3000 metres steeplechase runner.

Trevor Anthony Vincent, is a former Australian long-distance runner, specialising in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In 1962 he competed for his native country at the Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia, winning the gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase event, setting an inaugural Commonwealth Games record and breaking his own Australian record. He also competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in the 3000 metres steeplechase event.

Collis Birmingham is an Australian middle- and long-distance runner. He is a two-time participant at the Summer Olympics and four-time participant at the World Championships in Athletics. He has competed at five editions of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He was an Australian and Oceanian 10,000 metres record holder from 2009 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genevieve Gregson</span> Australian athletics competitor

Genevieve Gregson is an Australian athletics competitor who specialized in the 3000 metre steeplechase but for the 2024 Olympics qualified for and ran for Australia in the marathon. She qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and ran 9:26.11 in her Women's 3000m steeplechase heat to qualify for the final. Unfortunately she fell, rupturing her Achilles tendon, and was unable to complete the race.

Tom Hanlon is a Scottish former athlete who competed mainly in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He represented Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He also represented Great Britain at two World Championships, and Scotland at two Commonwealth Games. His best time for the 3000m steeplechase of 8:12.58 on 3 August 1991 in Monaco, is the Scottish record and ranks him third on the British all-time list behind Mark Rowland and Colin Reitz.

Jenny Blundell is an Australian athlete who specialises in the middle-distance running.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jakob Ingebrigtsen</span> Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner (born 2000)

Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner who is the current world record holder in the 2000 metres, 3000 metres, and short track 1500 metres, and also holds the current world best time over the two mile distance. Ingebrigtsen is a two-time Olympic champion, having won a gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic and European record, and a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is also a two-time World champion, winning gold medals in the 5000 m in 2022 and 2023 and a six-time European champion, winning gold medals in the 1500 m and 5000 m in 2018, 2022, and 2024. In addition to the 1500 m, Ingebrigtsen holds European records in the mile, 3000 m, and 5000 m, and is one of only three men to run a sub-3:30 1500 m, sub-7:30 3000 m and a sub-12:50 5000 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewart McSweyn</span> Australian long-distance runner

Stewart "Stewie" McSweyn is an Australian long-distance runner. He was a finalist in the men's 1500 metres in the Tokyo Olympics, and has also been a World Championships and Commonwealth Games finalist in the 3000 metres steeplechase, 5000 metres and 10,000 metres.

Georgia Winkcup is an Australian athlete. She represented Australia in the women's 3000m steeplechase at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Winkcup ran 13th in her Women's 3000m steeplechase heat but failed to qualify for the final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isobel Batt-Doyle</span> Australian long-distance runner

Isobel Batt-Doyle is an Australian Olympic athlete.

Amy Cashin is an Australian Olympic athlete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abrham Sime</span> Ethiopian athlete

Abrham Sime is an Ethiopian steeplechase runner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryuji Miura</span> Japanese athlete (born 2002)

Ryūji Miura is a Japanese long-distance runner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benard Keter</span> American athlete (born 1992)

Benard Kiplangat Keter is an American athlete who competes primarily in the 3000 metres steeplechase.

Eilish Flanagan is an Irish long distance runner. She competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2020 Olympics.

Andrew Coscoran is an Irish athlete who specializes in middle distance running.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Trippas</span> Australian athlete

Edward Trippas is an Australian runner who competes in the 3000 metres steeplechase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Davies (athlete)</span> Australian long-distance runner

Rose Davies in Newcastle, New South Wales, is an Australian athlete. She holds the Australian National Record in the 5000m in a time of 14:41.65 achieved in Tokyo in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geordie Beamish</span> New Zealand long-distance runner (born 1996)

George Beamish is a New Zealand middle- and long-distance runner, who won the 1500 metres at the 2024 World Indoor Championships. He holds the Oceania area record in the 3000 m steeplechase of 8:09.64 and the New Zealand record in the indoor 3000 m and 5000 m. He finished fifth at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the 3000 m steeplechase.

References

  1. "Matthew CLARKE". worldathletics.org. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Matthew Clarke". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  3. "La Trobe Elite Athlete Program members ready to shine on world stage". latrobe.edu.au. La Trobe University. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. Fortune, Yohann (28 May 2021). "Emil Zatopek In the pantheon of long-distance running: the creation of a sporting myth". Sport in History: 1–23. doi:10.1080/17460263.2021.1934096. ISSN   1746-0263.
  5. Admin, Runnerstribe. "Matthew Clarke Drops an 8:22 Steeple - Runner's Tribe". Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. "Athletics - CLARKE Matthew". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  7. "Men's 3000m Steeplechase Results: World Athletics Championships 2023". Watch Athletics. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  8. "Men's 3000m Steeplechase Results - Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics". Watch Athletics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.