Mark Richardson (athlete)

Mark Richardson ( Mark Austin Richardson ; born July 26, 1972 in Slough ) is a former British sprinter whose special course was the 400-meter run .

Career

As a teenager, he set several British age class records. At the Junior World Championships in 1990 he was third and won silver in the relay. The following year he won silver over 400 meters at the European Junior Championships and with the British team in the 4 x 100 meter relay and gold in the 4 x 400 meter relay. At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo , he was used in the run-up to 4 times 400 meters in the British team. In the final, John Regis ran on his position and the British relay became world champion.

He was also used in the run-up to the relay at the 1992 Olympic Games . In the finals, David Grindley ran for him, and the team including Richardsons won bronze. In 1993 and 1994 he was injured almost continuously.

At the World Championships in Gothenburg in 1995 , Richardson was there again and was fifth over 400 meters in 44.81 s. In the relay, which was fifth in the final, he was used again only in the preliminary run. In 1996, the British team won silver at the Olympic Games in Atlanta over 4 x 400 meters behind the US relay in 2: 56.60 minutes with Iwan Thomas , Jamie Baulch , Richardson and Roger Black . Richardson ran the fastest part-time of the entire finale with 43.62 seconds.

In the summer of 1997 at the World Championships in Athens , Richardson was fourth in 44.47 s. The relay with the line-up Thomas, Black, Baulch and Richardson ran in 2: 56.65 minutes in second place behind the quartet from the USA and ahead of the Jamaicans. In 2008 the IAAF canceled all results of the American Antonio Pettigrew since January 1, 1997 because of his doping confessions, so that the British were subsequently declared world champions.

At the European Championships in Budapest in 1998 , Richardson won bronze in 45.14 s behind Thomas and the Pole Robert Maćkowiak . The British relay consisting of Mark Hylton , Baulch, Thomas and Richardson won in 2: 58.68 minutes ahead of the team from Poland. A month later at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur , Richardson, starting for England , finished second over 400 m in 44.60 seconds behind Welsh Thomas. Jamaica won the season finals ahead of England and Wales, with Paul Slythe and Solomon Wariso running alongside Hylton and Richardson for England. In 1999, Richardson was sixth at the World Championships in Seville in 44.65 s. The British relay could not qualify for the final.

In October 1999, Richardson tested positive for nandrolone on a doping control . He protested his innocence and was acquitted in July 2000 by the British Athletics Federation, which, based on a scientific opinion, had concluded that dietary supplements taken by the athlete had triggered a physical reaction that resulted in excessive nandrolone levels. Since the clarification of the case at international level was delayed, Richardson could not start at the Olympic Games in Sydney .

In its investigation, the IAAF came to the conclusion that the athlete had actually consumed preparations contaminated with nandrolone and was thus guilty. The two-year ban that Richardson subsequently accepted was lifted in the summer of 2001 due to "exceptional circumstances," referring to the fact that he warned his colleagues about the dangers of contaminated dietary supplements.

Shortly afterwards he started at the World Championships in Edmonton and reached the semifinals in the individual competition. In the season he came in sixth place with the British team. In 2003 he officially ended his career.

Mark Richardson is 1.80 m tall and weighed 74 kg during his playing days. He started for the Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow Athletic Club. After his sports career, he first worked in the field of sports management and now works for the consulting company Lane4 .

Best times

• 100 m : 10.35 s, May 2, 1998, Irvine
• 200 m : 20.62 s, 24 August 1997, La Chaux-de-Fonds
• 400 m: 44.37 s, July 9, 1998, Oslo
  • Hall: 45.94s, February 20, 1993, Birmingham
• 800 m : 1: 55.9 min, January 18, 1997, Battersea Park

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 2002. The Association of Track & Field Statisticians Yearbook. SportsBooks, Surbiton 2002, ISBN 1-899807-13-6 .
• Ekkehard zur Megede : The Modern Olympic Century 1896–1996. Track and Field Athletics. German Society for Athletics Documentation eV, Neuss 1999.

Web links

• Mark Richardson in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Athlete portrait at The Power of Ten

Footnotes

1. ^ IAAF: IAAF Council Meeting notes, Monaco - November 21 . November 21, 2008
2. ↑ The Independent : "Natural" Nandrolone is modern myth . February 9, 2000
3. ↑ BBC News : Richardson in the clear . July 25, 2000
4. ↑ IAAF: IAAF News ( Memento of the original from February 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 6.5 MB). No. 48, April 2001, p. 11
5. ^ IAAF: Richardson glad to be back ( Memento from August 1, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). August 1, 2001
6. ↑ Lane4: Mark Richardson: Senior Consultant ( Memento of the original dated November 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ^ The Times : Life after sport: what Mark Richardson did next . July 24, 2008