Personal information | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Cardiff, Wales | 26 April 1979||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Matthew John "Matt" Elias (born 25 April 1979) is a retired Welsh athlete who specialised in the 400 metres sprint and 400 metres hurdles. During his international career he represented Great Britain. In 2003 he won a gold medal at the European Championships and at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens he finished 5th in the 4 × 400 m relay, He is also a part of Super Schools.
He won the European Under 23 Championships for the 400m hurdles in 2001 in a time of 49.57. The following year he was to have his most prolific season winning two silver medals in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Matthew Elias was born in 1979 in Cardiff, Wales, [1] one of two sons born to John Elias and Kathryn (née Hutchinson), the other being Ben (born 1976). [2] In 1998, Elias was part of the Welsh team that competed at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He competed in the 4 x 400 metres relay and set a new Welsh record in the final on the way to a bronze medal. [3] [4]
In 1999, he won his first of three Welsh 400 metres titles. [5] He also competed at the 1999 European Athletics U23 Championships that year, in the 400 metres hurdles and 4 x 400 metres relay. [6] He won his heat of the 400 metres hurdles with a season's best of 50.84, before finishing last by over a second and a half in the final. [7] [8] He ran only in the final of the 4 x 400 metres relay, running second leg to help the British team secure a bronze medal. [9]
In 2000, he won the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) U23 400 metres hurdles title. [10] He also won the Welsh 400 metres hurdles title. [5]
In 2001, he won the 400 metres at the Welsh Indoor Championships. [11] He competed in the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the men's 4 x 400 metres relay, finishing second behind eventual champions Poland in the heats before finishing outside the medals in fourth in the final. [12] [13] He retained his AAA 400 metres hurdles title, running almost a second and a half quicker than he had the previous year. [10] He also switched back to the 400 metres at the Welsh championships and won his second 400 metres title. [5] He competed at the 2001 European Athletics U23 Championships in the 400 metres hurdles and the 4 x 400 metres relay, taking home two gold medals. [6] In his hurdles heat he was the only athlete to go under 50 seconds, recording a time of 49.90 to win. [14] In the final he set a season's best of 49.57 to win the gold medal. [15] He raced in both the heats and the final, running anchor leg on both occasions to lead Great Britain to a closely fought victory over Germany. [16] [17]
In 2002, he won the 400 metres hurdles at the English Commonwealth Games trials, held in Manchester. [10] He also won his third and final Welsh 400 metres title. [5] He competed at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, winning two silvers, one in the individual 400 metres hurdles and the other in the men's 4 x 400 metres relay as part of a Welsh quartet that included British-record holder Iwan Thomas. [3] In the 400 metres hurdles, Elias set a Welsh record in the heats to go through to the final as the fastest qualifier, before being beaten by England's Chris Rawlinson in the final. [18] In the 4 x 400 metres relay, Elias ran anchor leg in the final, losing out on the gold medal by 0.01 seconds as he was beaten by England's Daniel Caines to the line, whilst setting another Welsh record. [19] He competed in the 2002 European Athletics Championships in both the 400 metres hurdles and 4 x 400 metres relay. [20] In the 400 metres hurdles, he finished third in his heat, failing to progress to the semi-finals. [21] In the relay, he ran anchor leg in the heats, in which Great Britain won their race, before running second leg in the final on the way to winning a gold medal. [22] [23]
The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic Games, the championships represents the highest level of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking. Separate World Championships are held by World Athletics for certain other outdoor events, including cross-country running and half-marathon, as well as indoor and age-group championship.
Tamsyn Carolyn Lewis is an Australian media personality and former track and field athlete who won a total of eighteen Australian Championships across the 400 metres, 800 metres and 400m hurdles. She first represented Australia in 1994, and won the 800 metres in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.
The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the year of the competition.
Marek Plawgo is a Polish athlete. He mainly competes in the 400 meters hurdles, but he also starts in the 400 meters and the 4 x 400 meters relay.
Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi, MBE, known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British broadcaster and former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.
Louis Jacobus van Zyl, better known as L. J. van Zyl, is a South African athlete competing in the 400 metre hurdles. He is the South African record holder in the event with a personal best of 47.66 seconds, which he achieved twice, three months apart. His time ranks him in the all-time top 25. He is a three-time African Champion in the event and competed for his country at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Catherine Ann Murphy is a Welsh former athlete who competed mainly in the 200 metres and 400 metres. She finished fourth in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, fourth in the 400 metres at the 2003 World Indoor Championships, and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2005 European Indoor Championships.
Jennifer Brenda "Jenny" Meadows is a retired British athlete. Her main event was the 800 metres, although she previously competed also over the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships, and a silver at the 2010 World Indoor Championships. At the European Athletics Championships, Meadows took silver outdoors in 2010 and gold indoors in 2011. She also had some international success as part of the Great Britain women's 4 x 400 metres relay squad.
Tristan Thomas is an Australian track and field athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles.
Anyika Onuora is a British retired sprint track and field athlete who competed in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres, and also the 4×100 metres relay and 4x400 metres relay.
David "Dai" Greene is a Welsh retired hurdler who specialised in the 400 metres hurdles, competing internationally for both Wales and Great Britain, as well as Europe in the IAAF Intercontinental Cup.
Mark David Hylton is a former British 400 metres sprinter. Hylton won a silver medal in the relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Eilidh Doyle is a retired British track and field athlete. Originally running as Eilidh Child, she specialised in the 400 metres hurdles outdoors, and the 400 metres flat indoors, as well as the 4 x 400 metres relay on both surfaces. She represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Individually, she is the 2014 European Champion and a three-time Commonwealth silver medalist in the 400 metres hurdles.
Muizat Ajoke Odumosu Alademerin is a Nigerian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Nigeria at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and competed at the World Championships in Athletics in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. She was the bronze medallist at the 2007 All-Africa Games and went on to become the continental champion with a win at the 2008 and 2012 African Championships.
Cornel Edwin Fredericks is a South African track and field athlete who competes in the 400 metres hurdles. His personal best for the event is 48.14 seconds.
Omar Cisneros Bonora is a Cuban track and field athlete who competes in the 400 metres hurdles. He is the Cuban national record holder for the event with his personal best of 47.99 seconds. He won gold medals in the hurdles and 4×400 metres relay at the Pan American Games in 2011.
Janieve Russell is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres hurdles and the 400 metres sprint. She won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in Tokyo 2021, where she also finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final in a personal best of 53.08 secs. She is a four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, winning the 400m hurdles title in 2018 and 2022, and the 4 × 400 m relay in 2014 and 2018. She has also won two relay silvers at the World Championships and a relay gold at the World Indoor Championships.
Jarryd Dunn is an English sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He represented Great Britain at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing winning the bronze medal in the relay.
Yvette Julie Wray is a female former English pentathlete, hurdler and sprinter. Born in Scraptoft, Leicestershire, she competed for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Moscow 1980. She also represented England at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 and 1982, winning two bronze medals.
Alastair Chalmers is a British track and field hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. He won Guernsey's first-ever Commonwealth Games track and field medal when he took bronze at the 2022 edition and he is a five-time British 400m hurdles champion.