Matt Elias – 400m/400m Hurdles       

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Matt set a Welsh junior record for 400m hurdles of 51.71 on his GB Junior International debut in 1997 and later that year made the European Junior final.  He improved that record to 51.5 in 1998 but was unable to run at the World Juniors through injury.  He returned at the end of the year to run for Wales at the Commonwealth Games and, although he did not run in the final, took home a bronze medal as he had run in the heats of the 4x400m, where his 46.2 third leg contributed to the Welsh record time of 3:03.63.  In 1999 he ran a personal best 400m hurdles time of 50.84 in the heats of the European under 23s.  In 2000 he won Welsh and AAA’s U23 titles at 400m hurdles, at which his season’s best was 51.16 and showed progress at the flat 400m in September when after a win in the U23 Home International he ran a pb 47.25 for 4th in the U23 international against Spain.

 

He made big progress in the 2001 indoor season at 400m with 46.88 in his semi-final before placing 3rd in the final of the AAA’s in 46.91.  He also won the Welsh title and contributed solid 400m relays legs in both heat and final at the World Indoors.  Warm weather training in the USA was rewarded in his first outdoor start when he took 0.33 off his two year-old best for 400m hurdles with 50.51 at Austin and he won the Welsh 400m in 46.90.  He improved his hurdles best to 50.10 in retaining his AAA’s U23 title and ducked under 50 seconds for the first time in the heats of the European U23 Championships with 49.90 and excelled to take the gold medal in 49.57, adding a second gold when he anchored the 4x400m team. 

 

Matt joined the rest of his “Team Linford” training group on Australia’s Gold Coast for the winter of 2002 and in a test to see how well training was going competed in a local race and surprised even himself when he finished 2nd in a time of 49.77, just outside his personal best. 

 

Matt’s first race back in the UK was at the Aqua Pura invitation in Loughborough where he won the 400m in 47.01 before winning the Welsh Championships in Newport in a personal best of 46.59.  Having confirmed that his winter training had gone well, Matt returned to the 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games Trials in Manchester, where he ran 49.73 in the heat and 49.46 to win in the Final.

 

Preparations continued to go well at the AAA’s Championships and Matt started the Commonwealth Games with a new hair colour (a red which looked a little too pink!) and being heralded as one to watch.  The heats saw another pb and a Welsh record of 49.11 and he ran a gusty race in the final to secure the Silver medal in a time of 49.28, only just missing out on the Gold to favourite Chris Rawlinson.  The lucky spectators, who had paid tickets for the last Athletics session of the Commonwealth Games, will never forget an impressive 4 x 400m race between the English and Welsh 4 x 400m teams.  Matt and his training partner Jamie Baulch pulled out all the stops and won a much-deserved Silver medal in a new Welsh record of 3:00:41 with Matt in a photo finish with England’s Daniel Caines on the line.  The Welsh team went on to entertain the crowd with their celebrations which included flick flacks and grass surfing!

 

A new country and new hair colour (blue) was next and in less than 1 week after the Commonwealth’s, Matt was lining up in the 400mH at the European Championships in Munich.  Feeling more emotionally than physically tired, Matt made it through the first round as one of the fastest losers before the controversial reinstatement of another athlete, meant that he would not progress to the next round.  Matt’s fighting character emerged a few days later when he ran an impressive second leg in the Great Britain 4 x 400m relay, helping to secure a Gold medal for the team.

 

Matt had a successful 2003 indoor season taking 2nd in the 4x400m relay at the Norwich Union International in Glasgow in February.  He placed 1st in both the 300m and as a member of the 4x200m relay team.  Matt ran a season’s best of 47.30secs at the Norwich Union World Indoor Trials & AAA’s Championships.

 

The 2003 Outdoor season started well for Matt with a 2nd place finish in the 200m in 21.22secs at the Bedford Inter-Counties at the end of May.  A week later at the Bydogoszs meet in Poland, Matt again finished in 2nd this time in the 400mH in a time of 49.89secs and won the 400mH in Riga in the middle of June.  At the GB v USA v Russia meet in Glasgow, Matt ran 49.62secs to take 3rd in the 400mH.  Suffering from a knee injury during the lead up to the AAA’s World Trials Matt still managed to run 50.04secs in the 400mH finals to finish in 4th however, having been advised that he would require surgery before the 2004 Olympic Games, he decided to end the season early to ensure his Olympic preparations would not be affected. 

 

Matt underwent surgery in August 2003 on his right knee.  After a successful rehabilitation period Matt regained his fitness and attended a warm-weather training camp in Arizona for the spring.  Matt’s first race of the 2004 outdoor season was in Mexico where he placed 5th in the 400m in a time of 46.10secs at the end of May.  He competed in Italy at the beginning of June and ran a time of 46.20secs in the 400m.  Later that month he was placed 1st in the 400m at the Cuxhaven meet in Germany.  At the Olympic trials and AAA’s Championships in Manchester at the beginning of July, Matt successfully qualified for the 4 x 400m relay squad for Team GB.  Prior to going to Athens Matt ran at the Loughborough meet and won the 400m.  He was a member of the 4 x 400m team that finished in 2nd at the Norwich Union International at Birmingham.  Matt joined his team-mates for a pre-Olympic training camp in Paphos, Cyprus before flying onto Athens.  Matt ran a fantastic fourth leg in the 4 x 400m heats, securing a place in the final the following day and getting a season’s best time of 3.02.40 seconds. Matt took the last leg again for Team GB in the final taking them home in 5th position.  The Olympics concluded the 2004 outdoor season for Matt as he took some time for a well-earned rest. 

 

After warm weather training with Linford, Darren Campbell & Christian Malcolm in Australia, Matt began the outdoor season running 400m flat. He won at the Inter-Counties in Bedford in 48.02secs. He then switched back to his favoured event the 400m Hurdles for the AAA’s and World Championship Trials in Manchester. He ran a great race winning with a quick time of 49.67secs. This was motivating for Matt, proving he was coming back to form, however didn’t quite gain him qualification for the World Championships in Helsinki.

 

Matt went on to show encouraging form indoor in 2006 with a Welsh indoor 300m best of 33.40 followed by 46.89 for 400m at the Birmingham Grand Prix. At the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne he ran 49.77 in his heat and was 6th in his semi-final in 49.89.

Since the Commonwealth Games Matt has been overcoming a number of injuries. He has now moved from Cardiff to Loughborough where he works and trains. He continues to develop his television experience as a regular on Sky Poker.

 

February 2009