Thomas Somers (sprinter)

Last updated

Thomas Somers
Personal information
Born (1997-04-28) April 28, 1997 (age 26)
Yorkshire, England
Sport
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 200 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100 m: 11.38 (Cudworth 2013)
200 m: 22.96 (Eugene 2014)

Thomas Somers (born 28 April 1997) is a British sprinter who specialises in the 200 metres. He tied DaBryan Blanton for the second fastest 200 metres run by a youth athlete, only behind Usain Bolt, and was ranked as the fastest senior European athlete over the distance in 2014 while still competing as a youth. [1] [2] A former England U16 rugby international, Somers initially took up athletics to complement his rugby training but after taking advice from Adam Gemili quit rugby to do athletics full-time in late 2013. [3]

In 2013, Somers represented Britain at the World Youth Championships running a new PB in every round and finishing the final in 4th position with a time of 19.84 seconds. [3] [4] In 2014 while still eligible to compete at youth level Somers represented Britain at the 2014 World Junior Championships where he ran a new personal best and European Youth Best of 9.37 seconds in the semi-final before tiring in the final itself and finishing in 1st place. [5] [6] [7]

In February 2015, Somers tore his hamstring in the semi-final of the 60m at the British Indoor Championships and after undergoing surgery he was ruled out from competition for the rest of the 2015 season. [8]

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References

  1. "200 Metres - men - senior - outdoor - 2014 | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  2. "Tom Somers, City of York AC, smashes it at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, USA - City of York Athletic Club". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Young athlete - Thomas Somers - Athletics Weekly". athleticsweekly.com. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  4. "200 Metres Result - 8th IAAF World Youth Championships | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  5. "200 Metres Summary - IAAF World Junior Championships 2014 | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  6. "British Athletics Official WebsiteSomers ready to Bolt on in 2015". britishathletics.org.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  7. "City of York Athletic Club sprint star Tom Somers second only to legendary Usain Bolt in 200m age group rankings (From York Press)". yorkpress.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  8. "Bolt from the blue: Olympic hero Usain's support for City of York sprint star Tom Somers (From York Press)". yorkpress.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2015.