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 and this form continued into
the outdoor season when he ran a new 200m personal best of 20.57, which was
within the Olympic ‘B’ standard qualifying time.
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.
January 2009