Timothy Benjamin

Last updated

Tim Benjamin
Personal information
Born (1982-05-02) 2 May 1982 (age 38)
South Glamorgan, Wales
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight76 kg (12 st 0 lb; 168 lb)
Sport
Country Great Britain and Wales
Club Cardiff
Turned pro1998
Achievements and titles
World finals2005
400 m- 5th Place
Olympic finals 2004
4x400 m Relay- 5th Place
Highest world ranking3 (Feb 2006)
Personal best(s)60m 6.75 (2000)
100 m 10.48 (2000)
200 m 20.67 (2001)
400 m 44.56 (2005)
Updated on 24 November 2006.

Timothy David Benjamin (born 2 May 1982) is a former professional athlete from Wales. He specialised in the 400 metres, and in his teens was coached by Jock Anderson, in the same training group as Christian Malcolm. He then moved to live in Slough to be coached by Tony Lester; Marlon Devonish amongst others was one of his training partners.

Contents

As a youngster, he ran over 200 metres, and won several junior titles, including the World Youth Championship in 1999. Soon after, he began to concentrate on the 400 m, and was selected for the relay squad at the World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton in 2001.

By 2002 he had established himself as one of Britain's best athletes, winning the British AAA title, and running in the successful Team GB squad at the European Cup. In the Commonwealth Games that year, he helped guide Wales to a silver medal in the controversial 4 × 400 metres relay, which was won by England, and disputed by many, including the athletes themselves. It was during that year also that he earned a silver in the European Athletics U23 Championships in Poland.

Following a number of injuries, he announced his retirement from athletics in 2009.

Senior career

He reached the semi-finals of the 2004 Olympics, and won the 400 m race at the 2004 European Cup. Further achievements in the 400 m came in 2005: he came fifth at the World Championships and took silver at the World Athletics Final.

At the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, he won the silver medal in the 4x400 m relay with the British team, as the finishing sprinter, along with Robert Tobin, Rhys Williams and Graham Hedman, in a time of 3:01.63. He finished sixth in the final of the individual event.

In late 2006, he announced that he was moving back to his hometown of Cardiff to be coached by former 100 metres hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson, whilst fellow Welsh relay member Rhys Williams would also be moving back from Loughborough.

Benjamin competed at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, but failed to make the final, recording 46.17 s in the semis.

Benjamin suffered a number of injuries and decided to bring an end to his athletics career in mid-2009. Citing his disappointment in missing the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he said that "taking an individual or relay spot in the Berlin World Championships from an aspiring 2012 Olympian would be disingenuous and unfair". [1] [2]

Personal life

Benjamin is married to a sweetheart from his schooldays, Natalie Lewis, an accomplished Welsh middle distance specialist in her own right. They married in November 2007. His father is a highly regarded professor of Biosciences at Cardiff University.

Personal bests

Last updated 6 April 2009

EventTime (seconds)VenueDate
60 metres 6.75Birmingham2000
100 metres 10.48Radyr Comprehensive School (Sports Day)2000
200 metres 20.67 Cardiff, Wales17 June 2001
400 metres 44.56 Monaco 9 September 2005

Related Research Articles

James Stephen Baulch is a Welsh sprint athlete and television presenter. He won the 400 metres gold medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. As a member of British 4 × 400 metres relay teams, he won a gold medal at the 1997 World Championships, and silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games where he won an individual silver and a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay.

Darren Campbell British sprinter and coach

Darren Andrew Campbell, is a British former sprint athlete. He was the sprint coach at Wasps Rugby Club for the 2015–16 season. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay.

Colin Jackson Welsh hurdler

Colin Ray Jackson, is a Welsh former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion twice, World indoor champion once, went undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and was a two-time Commonwealth champion. His world record of 12.91 seconds for the 110m hurdles stood for over a decade and he remains the 60 metres hurdles world record holder.

Roger Black British sprinter

Roger Anthony BlackMBE is a British retired athlete. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4 × 400 metres relay gold medals at both the World and European Championships. Since retiring from athletics, he has worked as a television presenter and motivational speaker. In 2008, Black joined forces with fellow athlete Steve Backley and operate BackleyBlack LLP delivering Olympic Performance in the Workplace. Black has a collection of fifteen medals from major senior athletics competitions to add to his two European junior championship gold medals.

Mark Lewis-Francis British sprint athlete and bobsledder

Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis, MBE is a British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialises in the 100 metres. A renowned junior, his greatest sporting achievement at senior level has been to anchor the Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4 x 100 metres relay team to a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Individually, Lewis-Francis has won the silver medal in the 100 m at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and silver medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Men's 100m final and numerous indoor medals.

Bertland "Bert" Cameron is a retired Jamaican sprinter who mainly competed over 400 metres. He represented Jamaica at three consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics. Cameron won the 400 m title at the first World Championships in Athletics. He was also the 1982 Commonwealth Games champion in the event and won a number of gold medals at regional competitions. He helped the Jamaican runners to a silver medal in the 4×400 metres relay at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Robert Tobin English sprinter


Robert "Rob" John Tobin is an English sprinter. He currently has a PB in the 400 m of 45.01 seconds.

Martyn Rooney English sprinter

Martyn Joseph Rooney is an English sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He reached the 400 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won bronze in the 4×400 metres relay. A mainstay on the anchor leg of the Great Britain 4 x 400 metre relay team, at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he won a silver medal with the Great Britain relay team, and bronze in the 2015 World Championships. His personal best time is 44.45 seconds.

Andrew Howe Italian long jumper

Andrew Howe is an Italian athlete who specializes in the long jump. He won this event as well as the 200 metres at the 2004 World Junior Championships. He was successful at senior level at a young age, winning a long jump bronze at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships before becoming the European Champion later that year. In 2007 he became the European Indoor Champion and won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.

Rhys Williams (hurdler) British hurdling athlete

Rhys Williams, is a Welsh professional track and field athlete, specializing in the 400 m hurdles. He is a previous European champion in the event.

David Gillick Irish sprinter, soccer player and motivational speaker

David Gillick is an Irish international track and field athlete. David began his education in Our Lady's Boys School and attended St Benildus College secondary school in Kilmacud. He studied at Dublin Institute of Technology before moving to Loughborough University in the United Kingdom to train as a full-time athlete with coach Nick Dakin. Gillick specialises in the 400 metres and he won the European Indoor Championship in 2005 and 2007, as well as the Irish National Outdoor Championship in 2006 and 2007. He set the Irish Indoor record of 45.52 seconds in the 2007 final. The time also beat the Irish outdoor record of 45.58 and was within the Olympic 'A' qualifying standard for the 2008 Games. On 4 July 2009 he ran 44.77 seconds in a race in Madrid to set a new national record. He is also the 2009 Irish national 200 m champion.

Todd Anthony Bennett was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.

Richard Buck British sprint athlete

Richard Thomas Buck is a former British sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres event. He is from York, and trains in Loughborough. Buck's current club is City of York A.C.. Previously, he had an 18-month spell at Scarborough A.C. He has been trained by his grandfather, Geoff Barraclough, and is now coached by Nick Dakin.

Matthew John "Matt" Elias 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.

Rabah Yousif British sprinter of Sudanese descent

Rabah Mahhamed Yousif Bkheit (born 11 December 1986) is a Sudanese-born British athlete, who initially competed for Sudan before obtaining British citizenship.

Vicki Barr (athlete) British athlete

Victoria "Vicki" Barr is a track and field athlete who competes in the 400 metres sprint. Her personal best for the event is 52.40 seconds. She is a frequent member of the British 4×400 m relay team and won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships in 2010. She was a silver medallist in the relay for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Michael Mathieu Bahamian sprinter

Michael Mathieu is a Bahamian sprinter from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specializes in 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running second leg and recording a 44.0 split, and the gold medal winning team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also a part of second place relay team at the 2007 World Championships. He won the bronze medal in the 4x400 metres relay in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Dai Greene Welsh hurdler

David "Dai" Greene is a British hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, competing internationally for both Wales and Great Britain. In a 'golden' sixteen-month period between 2010 and 2011, Greene won the World, European, Diamond League and Commonwealth titles in the event, in addition to winning the event as part of both the European Team Championships and the IAAF Continental Cup. He is the second fastest British man over the 400 m hurdles, behind the British record holder, Kriss Akabusi.

Seren Bundy-Davies is a Welsh track and field sprinter who competes in the 400 metres for Great Britain. She came to international prominence at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships, winning bronze in the 400 metres and silver in the 4 × 400 metres relay. She won a Bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.

Dylan Borlée Belgian sprinter

Dylan Borlée is a Belgian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. He holds a personal best of 45.57 seconds for the event. He was the silver medallist at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 2015. He has also represented Belgium at the World Championships in Athletics and IAAF World Relays as part of the national 4×400 metres relay team.

References

  1. Benjamin quits as injuries tell. BBC Sport (2009-07-20). Retrieved on 2009-07-21.
  2. Kessel, Anna (2009-07-20). Tim Benjamin retires from athletics. The Guardian . Retrieved on 2009=-07-21.