Darren Campbell MBE - 100m & 200m

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Darren Campbell is unquestionably one of Britain’s most successful and well known male sprinters. During 1991 and 1992 Darren became the most successful British athlete at junior level, winning four Gold and two Silver Medals at International Championships.

At the European Junior Championships at Thessalonika in 1991, Darren became the first Briton to win the sprint double (100m and 200m) and also won Gold in the 4 x 100m relay. The following year, competing in Seoul at the World Junior Championships he was runner-up in the 100m and the 200m and anchored the relay team to victory.

Darren made his debut on the senior circuit at the age of 18 as a member of the 4 x 100m squad for the Stuttgart World Championships in 1993.

Darren spent the winter of 1993/94 training in Australia with Linford Christie and Colin Jackson. His full introduction to senior international athletics followed, however it was unfortunately interrupted by injury. Darren’s other love is football, and having recovered from his injury he embarked on two successful seasons with Newport FC and Weymouth FC before returning to athletics.

In 1995 following another stint of winter training with Linford Christie, this time in Florida, Darren made his breakthrough on the World circuit, running a personal best time of 10.17 in Bratislava at the end of May ’96.

Following a disappointing performance at the Olympic Trials in Birmingham in 1996, missing out on an individual place in the 100m, Darren’s misfortune continued in Atlanta, where he was prevented from finishing the relay in the 4 x 100m, as the baton was dropped before it reached him. However, due to his consistent times throughout the Grand Prix circuit, Darren earned himself a place in the Grand Prix Final in Milan, the only European in the line up.

Darren’s 1997 season on the International circuit commenced with fine victories in the 100m and 200m at the Welsh Games in Cardiff. A string of successful races in Europe resulted in a personal best over 200m of 20.84 secs. at the National Championships, Birmingham (July). The World Championships in Athens, illustrated Darren’s rapid progress to become one of Britain’s leading sprinters. He was the only Briton to reach the semi-final stage of the 100m event, clocking a personal best time of 10.13 secs, and was a member of the British 4 x 100m relay team, collecting a Bronze Medal in the final.

A rigorous training programme over the following winter period saw him training with Frankie Fredericks in Namibia, and then with his coach Linford Christie and the “Nuff” Respect group in Lanzarote and Australia at the beginning of 1998. Darren’s hard work in the closed season had a tremendous effect. He won the 100m at the National Championships in Birmingham and also went on to win Gold at the European Championships in Budapest, smashing his personal best to 10.04 secs, and in doing so, breaking his coach and mentor’s Championship record. He ended the Championships by adding another Gold in the 4 x 100m. Darren unfortunately missed the World Cup in South Africa through injury but returned to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia where he finished fifth in the 100m final in a time of 10.08 and collected another relay gold in the 4x100 England team. In his only 200m of the season, Darren set another lifetime p.b. of 20.48.

In 1999, Darren reached the semi-final of the 100m in the World Championships, despite being disappointed in not reaching the final, Darren ran a superb relay leg in the 4x100m winning a silver medal and gaining a European record in 37.73secs. He later ran World Champion Maurice Green close in the 100m at an end of the season GB v USA match in Glasgow where he was within 0.02secs of Green.

With some new found confidence and a four month rigorous training programme in Australia, Darren had a blistering start to the 2000 season, storming home to win the Europa Cup for Britain in a 10.09(w). He then surprised everybody but himself in winning the 200m at the AAA’s National Championships, beating favorite Christian Malcolm. He was just edged out of winning the 100m by Dwain Chambers, however two fine runs confirmed his presence at the Olympics in both the 100m & 200m. He ran well in the 100m coming 6^th in the final, but the 200m showed that Darren has the ability, the maturity and the confidence to be the very best. His scintillating 200m runs in the heats, which included a 20.13 p.b, moved him into the 200m Olympic final as a prospective medalist. Darren ran the final and won a silver medal, a testimony to both himself and his coach. Darren, not content with his medal at the Olympics, then went on to win the 100m Grand Prix final in Doha a week later.

2001 winter training went extremely well and Darren was keen to go one better at the World Championships in Edmonton to take the Gold medal. Disaster struck in his first race for his Club (Belgrave Harriers) when he pulled his hamstring, which resulted in Darren watching the entire 2001 season from the sidelines. Never one to miss an opportunity, Darren joined the Eurosport Team covering the World Athletics Championships and made guest appearances on Breakfast TV and Radio.

A decision was made early in 2002 that he would not run indoors and totally focus on winning the Commonwealth Games 100m and 200m Gold medals in his home city of Manchester, before heading off to Munich to retain his European 100m title. After a disappointing performance at the Commonwealth Games Trials, it was discovered that Darren had been suffering from a viral infection and was grateful that the Selectors showed faith in him and selected him for the 200m and relay. Having recovered from the infection, Darren ran superbly at the European Trials in Birmingham (13^th – 14^th July) securing a place in both the 100m and 200m at the European Championships.

The Commonwealth Games came a little too soon in Darren’s recovery to full fitness but he rewarded the Manchester crowd for their support with an impressive run in the 200m Final to win a bronze medal for England. The final night of the Athletics belonged to Darren and the victorious 4 x 100m team, who were given the Gold after judges had studied the photo finish image, ahead of the Jamaican team.

With only a few days rest, Darren was on a plane to the European Championships in Munich as the only athlete doubling up in both the 100m and 200m. Darren pulled out all the stops in 100m Final and finished a creditable third behind his team mate Dwain Chambers who took the Gold. Darren looked impressive in the rounds of the 200m and went into the semi finals as the favorite for the Gold medal. Unfortunately, fate dealt him a severe blow, when he was controversially disqualified for running on the line. This decision was not disputed by the British Team, much to Darren’s dismay. With three major championship medals under his belt for 2002, Darren joined his British team mates in the 4 x 100m and added yet another Gold to his already impressive collection of medals.

Darren decided to call an early end to his 2002 season to concentrate on getting his injuries completed cleared up, ready to go back into winter training in October. 2003 Winter training went extremely well and although the plan was not to do any indoor racing, Darren decided to test out his progress at the Irish National Championships in Belfast. Having run well in the heats and the semi final, Darren surprised a few people by beating fellow Brit Mark Lewis- Francis.

Darren started his outdoor racing early, running 10.24 for the 100m and 20.50 for the 200m in Mexico early May. A month later he traveled to Hengelo where he came 3^rd in the 100m. Darren doubled at his next competition in Lille, where he ran 10.35 & 20.75.

Darren ran in the Athens Grand Prix and clocked 10.16 to finish in 4^th in the 100m. At the end of June Darren represented GB in Glasgow for the GB vs. USA vs. Russia International Cup. Darren ran 21.37 in the 200m to win bronze. He was also a member of the silver medal winning 4 x 100m team. In July he competed in Gateshead at the Super League meet where he ran in both the 100m and 200m. He clocked 10.36 in the 100m to place 3^rd and 20.80 for a 4th place in the 200m.

Darren was coming into fantastic form at just the right time when he had superb performances in both the 100m and 200m at the AAA World Trials in Birmingham at the end of July. In the 100m he ran 10.19 in the final to take 2^nd and in the 200m a season’s best performance claimed 3^rd place leading the GB team selectors to make the wise decision of picking Darren for both the 100m and the 200m for the World Championships. In the run up to the World Championships Darren competed at the Crystal Palace Grand Prix and ran a season best time of 10.09 in the 100m.

At the World Championships in Paris in August, Darren was the only male athlete to double up in the 100m and 200m. And again he proved he is a Championship performer when he narrowly missed out on a silver medal in the 100m to take bronze in a time of 10.08. Darren then went on to compete in the 200m where he ran two season best times to progress through to the final. Again there was a nail-biting photo finish with Darren unfortunately losing out to Japan’s, bronze medal winning, Suetsugu.

After 8 races Darren rested for the first heat of the Men’s 4 x 100m relay but was quickly back in action running in both the semi finals and the final. During the final Darren ran an excellent leg and was back on the winner’s podium to claim his second medal of the Championships, this time silver, after the GB team narrowly missed out to the USA team who took the gold.

After a hectic season Darren decided to call an end to the 2003 Outdoor season straight after Paris so he could spend time with his family.

Darren spent the early part of 2004 preparing for the outdoor season. He traveled to the US in April with his training group for an intensive warm weather-training regime. He was named team captain by UK Athletics for the Europa Cup in Poland in June, and inspired a great performance by the men’s team and was a member of the winning 4 x 100m relay squad that won in time of 38.67secs. Darren was also a member of the triumphant 4 x100m team at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead on the 27^th June. This was closely followed by successful performances at Zagreb on the 29^th June where he won the 200m in 20.74secs and was 3^rd in the 100m in 10.31secs.

On July 10^th, in front of a home crowd in Manchester, Darren booked his place onto the British Olympic team by finishing second in the 100m final in a time of 10.23secs at the Olympic trials & AAA Championships. He went to the Team GB holding camp in Paphos, Cyprus unfortunately he sustained an injury to his hamstring during his final training session prior to flying to Athens for the Olympic Games on August 18^th. Darren bravely ran in the 100m but was unable to progress further than the first round however this enabled him more time to receive treatment to his injury. Darren courageously made it through to the semi-finals of the 200m but was unable to reach the final. Fortunately there was one more opportunity for Darren to emulate his silver medal winning performance in the 2000 Olympics as a member of the men’s 4 x 100m relay squad. The team, who had a very successful season leading up to the Olympics consisted of Darren, Jason Gardener, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis. In the first heat the GB team placed 2^nd in 38.53 secs behind USA in 1^st in 38.02 secs. In the final, the GB team ran the race of their lives, causing one of the biggest upsets of the Olympic Games by clinching victory over the Americans in a time of 38.07 seconds.

Since returning from Athens Darren has been in big demand off the track. During October he was part of the Celebrity team of Sky One’s successful show ‘The Match’ where he trained & played Football along side Jonathan Wilkes, Ralph Little and Harvey from ‘So Solid Crew’, coached by ex-England manager Graham Taylor. In the final match Darren’s team were up against tough opposition, a side of ex-professional Football legends including, Paul Gascoigne, Matthew Le Tissier and Peter Beardsley. The game took place at St. James’s Park, home to Newcastle United in front of a sell-out crowd, in which Darren’s team lost 2-1 in an extremely close and exciting match. Darren then took part in “The Rematch” for Sky the following year, where his side narrowly missed out on revenge in the game again at St. James’ Park.

After a short holiday Darren participated in the Olympic Heroes Parade in central London in which the public lined the streets to celebrate the success of the Games. Darren has now resumed full-training for the winter.

Darren will be the first to admit that his busy diary after the 2004 Olympic Games, meant that he lost his focus for a while, but having spent 8 weeks of the 2005 winter training in Australia with Linford and Christian Malcolm, rekindled his desire to go on to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

A back problem meant that the 2005 season started slowly and just as that was sorted he was rushed into hospital with a viral infection meaning that he lost valuable time to qualify for the 2005 World Championships. Despite this disappointment, Darren’s leadership and motivational skills were recognized by British Athletics when they appointed him a GB Team Captain, although a repeat of the virus prevented him from traveling to Helsinki with the team.

2005 also proved a landmark in Darren’s career as he was recognized in the New Year’s Honours list, being awarded an MBE for his services to the sport.

In 2006, Darren competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, however did not progress past the semi-final in the 200m, and the England team were eliminated in the 4 x 100m after a faulty baton changeover in their heat. He did not compete individually at the European Championships in Gothenburg, but ran the second leg to help Britain to the gold medal in the 4 x 100 relay, adding to his impressive Championship medal haul.

Darren announced his retirement from athletics August 18^th 2006. His final race was at the inaugural Celtic Cup race in Grangemouth where he won the 100m.

Darren’s progress through the sprinting hierarchy has resulted in him becoming the focal point of much media attention. The Olympic gold and silver medalist is regularly featured in the media and has made numerous appearances on TV and London’s fashion catwalks. In April 2007 he traveled to Sanya, China, to present ‘Mr. World’, which reached a worldwide outside of over 1 billion.

Darren has held sponsorship deals with Reebok, Samsung and Norwich Union and was the face of Ben Sherman’s 2004 Olympic campaign. He is currently an ambassador for Taut, ‘The First Clean Sports Drink’. He also works with Gymkids in promoting the use of their equipment, tailored for use by young people to encourage their participation in physical activity, and Life Fitness as one of the country’s leading providers of fitness equipment.

Since his retirement, one of Darren’s biggest commitments has been Street Athletics, the concept set up by himself, Linford Christie and Nuff Respect (www.streetathletics.co.uk). Street Athletics 2006 visited 4 cities and in 2008 this increased to 24 venues in England, targeting disengaged young people aged 20 years predominantly in underprivileged areas. The focus of each event is for the youngsters to race each other over 60m with the aim of reaching the national Final in Manchester. Street Athletics continues to grow bigger and better and planning is well under way for the 2009 project.

In July 2007, Darren was announced as the new ambassador for Sky Living For Sport, a successful initiative run by the Youth Sport Trust in conjunction with BSkyB, which uses sport as a tool to re-engage young people who may be at risk of opting out of school life. Sky Living For Sport, now in its sixth year, has involved over 600 schools and benefited over 17,000 young people aged 11-16. Darren's role see’s him meet young people and teachers involved in Sky Living For Sport across the country to share his experiences and help inspire them to reach their full potential.

In August 2007 Darren worked alongside Mark Saggers on BBC Radio 5 Live during the summer Athletics debate programmes around the World Championships in Osaka. This year he travelled to Beijing as part of the BBC’s Olympic coverage team reporting across all sports. Darren is set to continue working with the BBC looking forward to next years World Championships in Berlin.

January 2009