Xandru Grech is a Maltese athlete, athletics coach, media personality and entrepreneur.
(Alexsander)Xandru Grech was born on October 11, 1974, to parents Louis Grech and Maria Grech Ganado.
Xandru attended St Edwards College, Malta and graduated from the University of Malta with a degree in Communications. He is a qualified Power Plate instructor and IAAF Level 4 Athletics Coach. He is also President of Malta Coaches Athletics Association. [1]
He began his career in athletics at the very early age of 9 years to become one of Malta's most recognized middle distance runners registering National records in the 800m and 1500m at the Small Nations Games in 1995 held in Luxembourg. [2] [3] In that same year he qualified for the 1995 World Championships in Athletics - Men's 1500m. [4] He formed part of the Maltese team at the 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race held in Torino, Italy where he achieved his last recorded result on an international level. Grech continues to be actively involved in athletics through coaching, sport event organisation, and philanthropic activity.
In 2019, he was instrumental, as part of Malta's organizing team, to introduce the Superleague Triathlon to Malta. [5] He continues his passion for fitness and sport through his Move Fitness Centers in Malta. [6]
Grech has hosted various TV programmes and ceremonies in Malta and is a regular guest on many TV and Radio Shows. He is actively involved in various philanthropic events and social awareness campaigns.
In 2009 he featured in the tongue-in-cheek Maltese feature film, Maltageddon [7] and a year later in Malta Force Cinema in 2010. He is brand ambassador for Iniala, the co-founders and organizers of the Malta Social Impact Awards and Inspirasia Foundation [6]
On 3 May 2020, he hosted Malta Together - A Festival of Gratitude and Inspiration, an online and TV music festival featuring leading Maltese singers and musicians with the aim of bringing the country together during the COVID-19 pandemic. [8] He is an active member of Malta Together - a community platform founded by Inspirasia Foundation created to help people in Malta live their lives better during the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing access to support, activities, entertainment, and useful services. [9]
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile events, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He 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.
The 800 metres, or meters, is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the first modern games in 1896. During the winter track season the event is usually run by completing four laps of an indoor 200-metre track.
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 15⁄16 miles. The event is closely associated with its slightly longer cousin, the mile race, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".
The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track.
The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League.
Vladimir Alekseevich Kanaykin is a Russian race walker.
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.
The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meeting competitions.
Brenda Taylor is an American track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 meter hurdles. She reached the final of the event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and won a medal at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 4×400-meter relay.
The Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais also called Meeting International de Liévin is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in February at Arena Stade Couvert in Liévin, France. It is one of the events of the World Athletics Indoor Tour organised by World Athletics.
Kevin Mayer is a French athlete specialising in decathlon and indoor heptathlon. He is two-time world champion, two-time Olympic silver medalist and the world record holder in the decathlon since 2018. He is also a world and three-time European champion in heptathlon.
Patrick 'Pat' Gerard Scammell is a retired Australian runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. Scammell competed at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals of the 1500 metres in 1988. He also competed at the 1987 and 1991 World Championships, as well as the 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994 Commonwealth Games. After coming second on four previous occasions, Scammell was Australian 1500 metres champion in 1992, his first Australian title.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second woman to complete an Olympic distance double.
The 4 x 1500 metres relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 1500 metres or 3.75 laps on a standard 400 metre track.
Timothy Cheruiyot is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and the 8th fastest athlete all time over the distance. At the World Athletics Championships, Cheruiyot won the silver medal in 2017 in London, and a gold in 2019 in Doha.
Konstanze "Koko" Klosterhalfen is a German middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2019 World Championship bronze medallist and 2022 European champion in the 5000 metres, becoming the first German medalist of the event at the World Athletics Championships and the first German winner of the event at the European Athletics Championships. At the European Indoor Championships, Klosterhalfen won silver medals for the 1500 metres in 2017 and the 3000 metres in 2019 and 2023. She took four individual medals at the European Cross Country Championships. In February 2020, she set a European indoor record in the 5000 m with 14:30.79, the fourth fastest time ever.
Georgia Helen Griffith is an Australian middle-distance runner.
Maria Grech Ganado, considered to be from Floriana, is a Maltese author and academic.
Joe Klecker is an American long-distance runner. After a successful collegiate career with the Colorado Buffaloes he turned professional in 2020 joining the On Athletics Club coached by Dathan Ritzenhein. Klecker holds personal bests of 3:37.00 for 1500m, 7:34.14 for 3000m, 12:54.99 for 5000m, and 27:07.57 for 10000m, all set as a part of the On Athletics Club
The following table is an overview of national records in the 1500 metres.