Thomas Chamney

Last updated

Thomas Chamney
Born (1984-04-16) 16 April 1984 (age 40)
Clonmel, Ireland
Other namesThe Chamdawg
Chammers
Madra
OccupationAthlete

Thomas Chamney (born 16 April 1984) is an Irish runner who was born in Clonmel and brought up in Dublin. He specialises in the 800 metres event. He was educated at Kilkenny College and at Saint Columba's College, Dublin. Chamney runs for the Crusaders AC club whilst in Dublin and has been on an athletics scholarship at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana where he studied English from 2002–2007. He is a four-time Irish Senior 800m champion and competed at the Beijing Olympics in that event in 2008.

Contents

On the field accolades

In 2006, Chamney earned All-America honours at the NCAA Indoor Championships, picking up his first career citation with a sixth-place finish in the 800-metre run at the Randall Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. [1] Chamney repeated his performance that spring at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, California, again finishing sixth and picking up All-America honours. [2] This winter, Chamney became a three-time All-American with his performance in the NCAA Indoor Championships. [3]

In international competition, Chamney has represented Ireland in the 800 metres at the European Athletics Championship in 2006 [4] and at the European Indoor Championship in 2007. [5] Chamney is a former Irish U23 800m champion and was 5th in the 2005 European U23 Championship when he recorded a personal best time of 1:46.82.[ citation needed ]

Off-the-field notoriety

Chamney developed a cult following on the Internet amongst both track fans and non-fans when he began posting training journals on the college track and field site TrackShark.com. [6]

An English major at the University of Notre Dame, Chamney was able to use his literary talents and his personality to build a loyal fanbase of American readers who appreciated his humor. [7] Chamney's entries were generally quite a lengthy fictionalised version of events written in an Irish vernacular, drawing inspiration from a similar column in Dublin's Sunday Tribune. [8] Chamney's last journal entry was written on 23 February 2006. In a 2007 interview with TrackShark.com, Chamney stated that he enjoyed writing because of the positive feedback and widespread praise that it drew from his fans, but stopped writing them because he felt slighted by those who accused him of exploiting the literary styles of some notable Irish columnists. [9]

Post-collegiate career

Having graduated the University of Notre Dame in May 2007, Chamney trained briefly in Soria, Spain, with coach Enrique Pascual before moving to Tallahassee, Florida, to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. [10] In somewhat controversial circumstances, [11] Chamney was selected for those Olympic Games having only attained the B standard for the 800m when he ran 1:46.66 at a meeting in Lignano, Italy. At those Olympic Games, he placed 5th in his heat in a time of 1:47.66 and failed to progress to the semi-finals. [12]

After the Beijing Olympics Chamney moved to Limerick, Ireland. He has since competed at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin over the 800m and the 1500m as well as the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona over 1500m. At both those competitions he failed to qualify for the final. He lowered his personal bests to 1:45.41 (Bislett Games, Oslo, 2009) and 3:36.83 (Meeting Ciutat de Barcelona, 2010). He retired from competitive athletics in 2013 and now runs a restaurant chain in Gothenburg, Sweden. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alistair Cragg</span> South African long-distance runner (born 1980)

Alistair Ian Cragg is a South African track and field athlete. He has since lived in England and United States where he attended the University of Arkansas. He races for Ireland and competes most often over 3000 metres and 5000 metres. He holds the Irish national records in both the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres. He holds the European road running record in the 5 km in 13:26, set in Carlsbad, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Symmonds</span> American retired middle-distance track athlete

Nicholas Boone Symmonds is an American YouTube personality and retired middle-distance track athlete, from Boise, Idaho, who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 meters distances. Symmonds signed with Brooks Running in January 2014 after a 7-year sponsorship with Nike. In college at Willamette University he won seven NCAA Division III titles in outdoor track. Symmonds is a 6-time US National 800 meters champion. He has competed in the 800m at two Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals in Beijing 2008; in London 2012, he finished fifth in the final, running a personal best of 1:42.95 behind David Rudisha's world record. He won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships, having previously finished sixth in the 2009 final and fifth in the 2011 final.

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

Will Leer is an American mid-distance runner. He graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, California in May 2007. Leer has represented the United States in international competition.

Ryan Shay was an American professional long-distance runner who won several USA championships titles. He was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and attended the University of Notre Dame. He was married to Alicia Craig, also an American distance runner.

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

Geena Gall, is an Olympic American mid-distance runner who ran for the University of Michigan. Gall's achievements include back to back NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800m in 2008 and 2009, representing the USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany in the 800m. She also competed at the North American Central American Caribbean Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador in 2007 and Toluca, Mexico in 2008. Gall was a member of the "Fab Four" who set two collegiate records at the 2007 Penn Relays, a ten-time NCAA All-American, owning two Big Ten 800 meter records and two DMR records, 10 Big Ten championships, numerous U of M school records, and at Grand Blanc High School she was a three-time national champion.

Christian Smith is an American middle-distance runner from Garfield, Kansas. He graduated from Pawnee Heights High School in 2002 and from Kansas State University in 2006.

Alice Schmidt Kehaya is an American middle distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters. She represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 London Olympics and has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions.

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

Chanelle Price is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800-meter run. She has a personal record of 1:58.73 for the distance. She was the gold medalist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark English (athlete)</span> Irish middle-distance runner (born 1993)

Mark English is an Irish middle-distance runner.

Derrick Peterson, raised in Atlanta suburbs, is a retired American middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 meters. He represented the USA at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. Was 2002 Indoor USA Track and Field Champion. He won the silver medal in the 800m event at the 2001 Summer Universiade and the bronze(800m) and gold as a member of the 4x400 meter relay at the 1999 Summer Universiade.

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

Craig Engels is an American middle-distance runner. He competed for the United States at the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, where he won the men's 1500 meters. In the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Engels was focused on making the semi-finals of the 800m and was listed as an alternate for the 1500m. He finished 4th in the 800m final and 5th in the 1500m final, missing out on the Olympics in both events.

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

Clayton Murphy is an American middle-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 800-meter run at the 2016 Olympic Games. He was the gold medalist in the 800-meter run at the 2015 Pan American Games. He ran collegiately for the University of Akron, before signing with Nike in June 2016 and joining the Nike Oregon Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colleen Quigley</span> American middle- and long-distance runner

Colleen Quigley is an American middle-distance runner, steeplechase specialist, and Olympian from St. Louis, Missouri. She is a current world record–holder in the 4x1500-meter relay. Competing in the 3000-meter steeplechase, she finished 8th at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and 12th at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. She won the 2019 U.S. National Indoor Championship in the mile, running 4:29.47, and was the 2015 NCAA Champion in the 3000-meter steeplechase. In 2023, Quigley announced that she would start competing in triathlon events, but that she still plans to compete in track and field through 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Giesting</span> American track and field sprinter (born 1992)

Christopher Carl "Chris" Giesting is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 400-meter dash. He was a gold medalist in the 4 × 400-meter relay at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He ran collegiately for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and won one NCAA indoor title.

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

Donavan Brazier is an American middle-distance runner. He holds the American junior record in the men's 800 meters and won the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships. With a time of 1:42.34, he was the American national and NACAC area record holder in the event from 2019 until 2024, when Marco Arop and Bryce Hoppel ran 1:41.20 and 1:41.67 to break the NACAC record and American record respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athing Mu</span> American middle-distance runner (born 2002)

Athing Mu is an American middle-distance runner. She is the youngest woman in history to hold Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. At the age of 19, Mu won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking a national record set by Ajeé Wilson in 2017, and a continental under-20 record. She took a second gold as part of the women's 4 × 400 m relay. She was the 800 m 2022 World champion, becoming the first American woman to win the world championship title over the distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryce Hoppel</span> American middle-distance runner (born 1997)

Bryce Hoppel is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He is the reigning 800 metres world indoor champion having won gold at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. He also is a seven-time U.S. champion and two-time NCAA champion over the distance. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Hoppel set an American record in the event, with a time of 1:41.67 to become the seventh fastest man and the second fastest North American man at the distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yared Nuguse</span> American middle-distance runner (born 1999)

Yared Nuguse is an American professional middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 meters. He was the 2019 NCAA Division I champion in the event and bronze medalist from the 2024 Summer Olympics. Nuguse is the North American outdoor record holder over the one mile distance, and the North American indoor record holder for the 1500 meters, one mile and 3000 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roisin Willis</span> American athlete

Roisin Willis is an American middle-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2022 World Under-20 Championships, adding second title for the women's 4x400 m relay.

Dylan Jacobs is an American distance runner who competed for Notre Dame and the Tennessee Volunteers in college before turning pro and signing with On. He is a three-time NCAA Champion.

References

  1. ↑ "Thomas Chamney Is Notre Dame's Third All-American At NCAA Championships :: Irish junior finishes sixth in 800-meter run; Benninger does not finish 3,000 meters". und.cstv.com. 11 March 2006. Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  2. ↑ "Chamney Finishes Sixth In NCAA 800-Meter Final :: Notre Dame junior repeats this year's NCAA indoor finals performance and earns second career All-America citation". und.cstv.com. 10 June 2006. Archived from the original on 17 June 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  3. ↑ "Chamney Earns Third All-America Honor In NCAA Indoor 800-Meter Final :: Jake Watson takes 10th place in finals of the mile, just missing out on All-America status". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  4. ↑ "European Athletics Championships Göteborg, Sweden" (PDF). www.european-athletics.org. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "EAA Result Service". www.tilatopaja.org. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "Journals : Thomas Chamney of Notre Dame". Track Shark. Archived from the original on 11 May 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Meginnes, Joe (9 March 2006). "Charismatic Track Standout Thomas Chamney Leads Irish To NCAA Indoor Championships :: Junior middle distance runner is in the midst of his finest season at Notre Dame". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on 27 November 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Trackshark.com – College Track & Field". Track Shark. Archived from the original on 23 November 2005. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "Trackshark.com – College Track & Field". Track Shark. Archived from the original on 16 May 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  10. ↑ O'Riordan, Ian (26 March 2008). "One man and his madra still in the hunt". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  11. ↑ O'Riordan, Ian (7 July 2008). "Three more gain tickets to Beijing". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  12. ↑ "Olympic Results - Day 12". The Irish Times. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "The Irish running rivalry fuelled by hate: 'I needed that f****** resentment and bitterness. I love it. I get off on it'". Irish Examiner. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
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.