Michael East (athlete)

Last updated

Michael East
Medal record
Men's athletics
Commonwealth Games
Representing Flag of England.svg  England
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Manchester 1500 metres

Michael John East (born 20 January 1978 in Reading [ citation needed ], England) is a retired middle-distance athlete. His best result came in winning the 1500 metres gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. He was the last British male to win a major 1500m title until Jake Wightman became World Champion in 2022. [1]

He has also had some success in the IAAF European Cup finishing second and third in 2002 and 2003 respectively at the same distance. He nearly added to his medal tally when finishing third at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary only to find himself disqualified for interfering with the run of the Kenyan Laban Rotich.

He reached the final of the 1500m at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, finishing in 6th place. He was the only British male at those Games to reach an individual athletics final on the track. He was a semi-finalist at the 2005 IAAF World Championships but missed the most of the 2006 and 2007 seasons because of a knee injury. As a result, in November 2007 he had his lottery funding removed, making it much harder for him to return to top rank competition. He had to rely on financial support from two Portsmouth companies. [1] East called the decision by UK Athletics "crazy" and "shortsighted." [2] He returned to compete at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships but was not selected for the squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics as he could finish only 8th in the trials held in July. He announced his retirement on 8 September 2008. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Collins</span> Saint Kitts and Nevis sprinter

Kim Collins is a former Kittitian track and field sprinter. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 metres. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics on five occasions, from 1996 to 2016, and was the country's first athlete to reach an Olympic final. He competed at ten editions of the World Championships in Athletics, from 1995 to 2015, winning five medals. He was a twice runner-up in the 60 metres at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. At regional level, he was a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games and a silver medallist at the Pan American Games. As of 2023, he is the only Individual World Championships Gold medallist from Saint Kitts and Nevis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastian Coe</span> British athlete and politician

Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hicham El Guerrouj</span> Moroccan middle-distance runner

Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres, mile, and 2000 metres events, and is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games. El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and holds seven of the 10 fastest times ever run in the 1500 m and in the mile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuriy Borzakovskiy</span> Russian middle-distance runner

Yuriy Mikhailovich Borzakovskiy is a Russian middle-distance runner specializing in the 800 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehdi Baala</span> French middle-distance runner

Mehdi Baala is a French middle-distance runner competing mainly in the 1500 metres event. Baala has won several major international championships medals in the 1500 metres event – an Olympic Games bronze, a World Championships silver, two European Championships golds and a European Indoor Championships bronze. Moreover, he has won several medals in the 1500 metres event of the European Cup, IAAF World Cup and the IAAF World Athletics Final. Baala is considered to be the best French middle-distance runner of all time. As of July 2013, he holds French national outdoor records for four distances and French national indoor records for four distances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryam Yusuf Jamal</span> Ethiopian-born Bahraini middle-distance runner

Maryam Yusuf Jamal is an Ethiopian-born Bahraini middle-distance runner. She is the first Bahraini athlete to win an Olympic medal, a gold in the 1500m women's race, in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. This was also the first Olympic medal won by a woman representing a Gulf state. Born in Ethiopia, 2005 was her first full season. She gained the national record and ran the fastest 3000 m of the year, with a time of 8:28.87 at a race in Oslo. Jamal is a two-time world champion in the 1500 m, having won at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships in Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1500 metres</span> Middle distance running event, "the metric mile"

The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers or approximately 1516 miles. The event is closely associated with its slightly longer cousin, the mile race, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Pavey</span> British long-distance runner

Joanne Marie Pavey MBE is a British long-distance runner representing Europe, Great Britain and England in a career notable for its longevity, range and consistency. A World, European and Commonwealth medallist, Pavey won her only senior title when she claimed the 10,000 m gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich, ten months after giving birth to her second child, to become the oldest female European champion in history at the age of 40 years and 325 days.

Andrew James Baddeley on The Wirral, Merseyside is an English middle-distance runner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asbel Kiprop</span> Kenyan middle-distance runner

Asbel Kipruto Kiprop is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, who specialises in the 1500 metres. He was awarded the 1500 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics after the original winner, Rashid Ramzi, tested positive for doping. Kiprop has won three World Championship titles in the event, in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Kiprop failed his own doping test in November 2017 and received a four-year doping ban.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genzebe Dibaba</span> Ethiopian middle and long-distance runner

Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the indoor events of the one mile, 3000m and 5000m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Rowbury</span> American middle-distance runner

Shannon Solares-Rowbury is an American middle-distance runner from San Francisco, California. After competing collegiately for Duke University, she turned professional in 2007. Rowbury has represented the United States at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. She also represented the United States at the World Championships in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, winning the bronze medal in the 1500 meters in 2009. In 2015, Rowbury helped set the world record with the U.S. team for the distance medley relay event, and set a then-American record for 1500 meters on July 17, 2015, breaking Mary Slaney's 32 year-old mark with a time of 3:56.29.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Lancashire</span> English middle-distance runner

Thomas Benjamin Lancashire is an English middle-distance runner. Lancashire represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 1500 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah England</span> British middle-distance runner

Hannah England is a British middle-distance running athlete who specialised in the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run. At 1500 m, she is the 2011 World Championship silver medallist and finished fourth at the 2013 World Championships. She also competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. England is one of only five British women in history to have run under two minutes for 800 m and nine minutes for 3000 m, the others being Christina Boxer, Kirsty Wade, Jessica Judd and Laura Muir. She announced her retirement from athletics on 14 January 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrés Manuel Díaz</span> Spanish middle-distance runner

Andrés Manuel Díaz is a former Spanish middle-distance runner. He represented Spain at the Olympics in 1996 and 2000 and was the bronze medallist over 1500 metres at the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put</span>

The men's shot put competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the Olympic Stadium on 3 August. Forty athletes from 34 nations competed. The event was won by Tomasz Majewski of Poland, the nation's second consecutive and third overall victory in the men's shot put. Majewski was the third man to successfully defend Olympic shot put gold, both of whom added a silver medal after their two golds). David Storl of Germany took silver, the first medal for united Germany since 1936. Reese Hoffa took bronze to keep the American podium streak going at eight consecutive Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Bradshaw</span> British pole vaulter

Holly Bethan Bradshaw is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She is the current British record holder in the event indoors and outdoors, with clearances of 4.87 metres and 4.90 metres. Bradshaw won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, gold at the 2013 European Indoor Championships, bronze at the 2018 European Championships, and silver at the 2019 European Indoor Championships. She also won at the 2018 Athletics World Cup. Coached by Scott Simpson, she has been consistently ranked among the world's best and has been ranked in the world top ten on the Track and Field News merit rankings four times.

Mohammad Mutlak Khalif Al-Azemi is a Kuwaiti middle distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. His 800 m personal bests of 1:44.13 minutes outdoors and 1:48.93 minutes indoors are the Kuwaiti records for the event. He represented his nation at the Olympic Games in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and has also made four appearances at the World Championships in Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Centrowitz Jr.</span> American middle-distance runner

Matthew Centrowitz Jr. is an American middle-distance runner who is the 2016 Olympic champion in the 1500 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taoufik Makhloufi</span> Algerian track and field athlete

Taoufik Makhloufi is an Algerian athlete who specialises in middle-distance running. He became the 1500 metres Olympic champion at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. In 2016, Makhloufi took the silver medal in the 800m and 1500 m at the Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Collins gone but repercussions still being felt as East retires". Inside the Games. 7 September 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  2. Broadbent, Rick (6 March 2008). "Rubber-band man Michael East bounces back". The Times . Retrieved 14 August 2008.[ dead link ]