Tim Abeyie – 100m/200m

 

 

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Tim started his career as a Football Player with Fulham F.C before deciding to concentrate on Athletics in 1998. He made his first International break through in 2000 at the Commonwealth Youth Games, where he finished 3rd in the 200m. This came a month after finishing 2nd in the English Schools in a time of 21.48secs. Tim also made the European Junior Champs that year.

 

2001 began well as Tim represented England in the Bangor International, winning the 100m B race in 10.56secs. He finished the season with gold in the 200m at the English Schools’ in a time of 21.41secs.

 

Tim joined Linford Christie and Ron Roddan in 2002, which paid off throughout the 2003 season with more consistent running. He won the U23 International Match against France and gained a PB of 21.06 at the European U23 Championships at the end of the season.

 

Tim relocated to Wales in 2004 to study at The University of Wales and join ‘Team Linford’ (including Darren Campbell, Matt Elias and Katharine Merry) in Cardiff.

He enjoyed a successful AAA Indoor Championship with a 60m PB of 6.69secs in the semi-final, before taking 4th in the final. He followed this up with a great run in the 200m the next day. He broke 21secs for the first time in his career, faster than his outdoor 200m time, setting a new PB of 20.93secs.

Tim was the first British 200m Athlete inside the qualifying mark for the World Indoor Champs in Budapest, so gained automatic selection.

He equalled this new PB at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham for 3rd place and won the British University’s Indoor 60m in 6.75secs.

With a bad lane draw, Tim failed to make the final in Budapest, coming 4th in the semi-final with 21.80secs.

 

Tim was recognised by the Sport as the most improved GB Athletes of the 2004 Indoor season.

 

Tim travelled to Phoenix, Arizona with his training group and Coach Linford Christie after the Indoor season. The trip entailed eight weeks of intense warm weather training in preparation for the outdoor season. At his first race of the season, a league match in Barnet Tim finished in 4th in the 100m.  He followed this up with a 2nd place in the 100m in 10.37secs at a meet in Loughborough.  Tim finished in 3rd in the 100m at the Bedford Games on June 13th.  At the AAA’s U23 Championships at Bedford, at the end of June, Tim dominated the competition when he won both the 100m and the 200m.  At the beginning of July Tim ran at the Olympic Trials and AAA’s Championships where he placed 4th in the semi-finals of the 100m which unfortunately was not enough to secure a place on the Olympic team.  However, despite this disappointment Tim continued to compete for the remainder of the outdoor season. 

 

Tim had a busy indoor competition schedule in 2005, which begun in January at the Cardiff International meet, where he ran 6.76secs for 2nd place in the 60m. He then travelled to Gent and came 3rd in the 200m with a time of 21.42secs. Tim qualified for the semi-finals of the 200m at the AAA’s in Sheffield in 1st place in 21.04secs, but did not start in the final due to a slight injury to his hamstring. He set a new PB for the 200m at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham in February of 20.98secs. This secured him a place at the European Indoor Championships in Madrid early March. Tim qualified for the semi-final with another PB of 20.92secs in Madrid and then for the final in 20.93secs. He made the decision not to run in the final due to an ongoing hamstring problem, not wanting to jeopardise his outdoor season.

The outdoor season was equally busy for Tim. After spending time at a training camp in Melbourne, Australia he returned in good shape. He won the 200m in Loughborough in May in 21.18secs. Then set a new PB for the 100m at the Inter-Counties in Bedford with a time of 10.30secs. He came 3rd in the 200m in the same competition in 21.18secs.

 

Leading up to the AAA’s and World Championship trials Tim travelled to Bratislava & Lucerne getting some good races in before the trials in Manchester. He reached the semi-final in both the 100m & 200m in Manchester, but didn’t manage to make the GB team for the World Champs in Helsinki. He carried on racing, shifting his focus to the World Student Games in Turkey. He qualified in the semi-final in 4th place, 21.03secs with a relaxed run, but then tightened up slightly for the final and only managed 7th place.

2005 was yet another positive season for Tim, setting more PB’s and showing his development as a senior Athlete.

 

In 2006, he made an impressive start to his season by running a PB of 6.66 and then 6.64 to win the 60m and then winning the 200m in 20.96 at the AAA Indoor Championships in Sheffield. At the Grand Prix in Birmingham, Tim then ran 6.70, taking 4th place and reduced his 200m PB to 20.86 taking 2nd place. Tim’s impressive performance continued throughout the outdoor season where he achieved a new PB of 10.29and then 10.25 taking first place at the Loughborough International. Tim then ran a new PB of 20.66 with a win in Istanbul. During the European Cup in Malaga, Tim made another improvement, making 10.22 his new PB before running his leg of the 4 x 100m taking Bronze place. Tim then ran 10.48 and 20.84 at the AAA’s in Manchester before running 20.78 to win his race in Bern. Tim’s season ended with races at the European Championships in Gothenburg, running 21.17 and the Birmingham International where he ran 10.59.

 

In 2007 he had bests of 10.34 for 100m and 20.67 for 200m, with 4th in the UK 200m. He got close to his indoor best with a 20.89 win in Leipzig in 2008.

 

Tim is living and training in Cardiff, in his spare time he enjoys listening to Reggae and R&B. He continues to feature on radio and television while also committing his time to school visits.


April 2008