Iwan Thomas

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Iwan Thomas
Iwan Thomas.jpg
Thomas being interviewed in London in 2011
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta 4x400 m relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Athens 4x400 m relay
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Budapest 400 m
Gold medal – first place 1998 Budapest 4x400 m relay
European Cup
Gold medal – first place 1995 Villeneuve d'Ascq 4x400 m relay
Gold medal – first place 1997 Munich 4x400 m relay
IAAF World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1998 Johannesburg 400 m
Silver medal – second place 1998 Johannesburg 4x400 m
Representing  Wales
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 400 m
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x400 m
Silver medal – second place 2002 Manchester 4x400 m

Iwan Gwyn Thomas, MBE (born 5 January 1974) is a Welsh sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 metres, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is a former European and Commonwealth Games champion.

Thomas's coach for much of his running career was Mike Smith, formerly coach to British 400 m runners Roger Black, Todd Bennett and Paul Harmsworth also hurdler Kriss Akabusi. Thomas was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998.

Athletics career

His initial athletics breakthrough came at the World Junior Championships in 1992 as part of the British 4x400 metres relay team that finished fifth. Thomas attended Stamford School and West London Institute of Higher Education, where he studied Sports Science and Geography. While still at university, he took part in the 1994 Commonwealth Games 400 m where he reached the semi-finals, representing Wales. From there, he was selected to represent Britain in the relay at the 1995 European Cup and secured his first championship gold medal.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Thomas finished 5th in the final and took a silver medal in the 4x400 m event. He also represented Britain in the 2000 Olympics but was not selected for the individual event and despite running the fastest leg for the British team, did not secure a medal.

Thomas was a member of the Great Britain 4x400m team at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens. The team (Iwan Thomas, Roger Black, Jamie Baulch and Mark Richardson) finished second by 0.18 seconds to the United States. However, in 2008, US team member Antonio Pettigrew, who ran the second leg of the final, testified in the court case against trainer Trevor Graham that he had been aided by performance- enhancing substances between 1997 and 2001, including the 1997 World Championships. As the International Amateur Athletics Federation did not, as of 2008, change results retrospectively more than eight years after the event, the GB team was not awarded the gold medal retrospectively, although Pettigrew has returned his medals won in that period.[1][2]

On 7 January 2010 it was announced that Great Britain's 1997 World Championship 4x400m relay team were to be awarded the gold medal they were denied by the disqualified USA team.[3] New medals were minted for the ceremony, as not all of the American quartet returned the originals. Thomas received his gold medal in May 2010 in a presentation by Alun Ffred Jones at Cardiff Bay.[4]

Thomas' career was hampered by injury including a stress fracture to his ankle in 1999 that required telescopic surgery. He was again injured in 2003 with damage to his Achilles. Further injury in 2004 ruled him out of the 2004 Olympic Games. Thomas was selected in 2006 for the Welsh team for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, but was unable to compete due to an injury.

Iwan never officially retired from athletics but took the opportunity to do so when offered by Andy Goldstein on 3 July 2012 edition of the Andy Goldstien's Sports Bar on TalkSPORT.

Personal life

Iwan Thomas being interviewed after lighting the Olympic cauldron in Cambridge during the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.

Thomas was born in Farnborough, London Borough of Bromley, and now lives in Southampton. After winning Deadline, he bought himself a Ducati 1098 motorcycle. He is a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club,[5] even though he may latterly also have become a supporter of Southampton Football Club, and in 2010 he became an ambassador for The Saints Foundation, the charity set up by Southampton FC.[6]

Television work

Thomas worked as a guest presenter of the Children's television show 'Best Of Friends', alongside Darren Campbell and Zöe Salmon.[citation needed]

He is a regular panelist on BBC Two's Through The Keyhole, was a contestant on Superstars on both BBC One and Five and took part in BBC One's Hole In The Wall. He has also been a contestant on BBC One's Celebrity MasterChef, and The Real Hustle.[citation needed]

Thomas can also be seen as a regular guest of Channel 5's The Wright Stuff. On 18 July 2008 Thomas admitted that he once fell asleep on live TV after "having a few sneaky beers in the Green Room before the show". He was not specific about the programme but did admit that the presenter was Eamonn Holmes. He starred in Daily Cooks Challenge as a judge alongside presenter Antony Worrall Thompson.[citation needed]

Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Total Wipeout which aired on 18 September 2010.[citation needed]

Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Eggheads which aired on 22 December 2010.[citation needed]

Iwan took part in a celebrity version of the children's TV show Jungle Run.[citation needed]

Iwan took part in the celebrity games of the Million Pound Drop Live broadcast on Friday 10 August 2012.[7]

Iwan is currently co-presenter of MotoGP Tonight on BT Sport alongside Craig Doyle. He can also be seen presenting the Chequered Flag show immediately following MotoGP races.[8]

On 27 August 2015, Thomas was announced as a contestant in the 2015 series of Strictly Come Dancing. On September 5, 2015 it was announced Thomas had been paired with professional dancer Ola Jordan for the series.[9] He was the first contestant to be eliminated.[10]

Other activities

Thomas made a guest appearance as a cyclist at the final round of the 2008-09 Revolution series at Manchester Velodrome, competing in the 200m time trial.[11]

Iwan took part in the London Marathon 2015.

Iwan Thomas joined the Ecover Sailing Team in 2009 as part of an Extreme 40 event. He was the fifth man on their boat on 31 July, racing catamarans around Egypt Point in Cowes, for a practice day of the iShares cup.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Pettigrew given two-year dope ban BBC Sport, 3 June 2008
  2. ↑ Thomas calls for justice after Pettigrew's disgrace The Guardian, 5 June 2008
  3. ↑ Great Britain's relay heroes will finally be honoured BBC Sport, 7 January 2010
  4. ↑ Welsh athletes Baulch and Thomas finally hold the gold. BBC Sport (2010-05-11). Retrieved on 4 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Talk of the Terrace ESPN UK, 28 March 2010
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ "Iwan Thomas is the first Strictly contestant to be voted off", The Telegraph, 5 October 2015
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards
Preceded by BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1998		 Succeeded by
Colin Jackson
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