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Darren Campbell (Athletics) |
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Darren Campbell is a house hold name in British Athletics achieving medals in all major events. Darren like many top sporting athletes was a natural all round sports man excelling specifically in Athletics and football.
Darren experienced early success on the track winning a gold medal the English School Championships in the 200m. Following on from his success on his home soil he then went on to achieve gold medals in 100m, 200m and in the 4x100m relay at the 1991 European championships.
After his early success Darren decided to take out two years to pursue his love for football playing for Plymouth Argyle, Newport County A.F.C and a host of other teams. In 1995 Darren made a comeback to Athletics achieving selection for 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Darren`s first major senior success came at the 1997 World Championships by the way of a bronze medal 4x100m, his consistent performances gained him his first major gold medal in the 100m at the 1998 European Championships running an impressive 10.13 he was also part of winning the 4x100 gold medal relay team.
At the Olympics in Sydney, Darren Campbell placed 6th in the 100 m final, and took a surprise silver medal in the 200 m, as Campbell was mainly a 100 m runner, and had a previous best time of 20.49s. In the quarter-final, he took 0.29s off this to reduce to 20.13s, his fastest time at the distance in his career. This was followed by performances of 20.23s in the semi-final and 20.14s in the final to finish second, Campbell's first senior medal at the distance.
The following year Darren was hit by numerous injury worries hampering any performances in major competitions. After returning from injury the following year, Campbell took bronze in the individual 100 m event and gold in the 4 x 100 m relay at the2002 European Championships. His bronze was later upgraded to a silver after Dwain Chambers confessed to taking performance-enhancing-drugs. However, the relay gold was later taken from him, as Chambers was part of the quartet. He won his quarter-final in the 200 m, but was eliminated after being disqualified for stepping outside his lane.
The year also saw Campbell compete in his home town of Manchester in the Commonwealth Games. He did repeat his Olympic success in the 200 m, receiving bronze in this event. However, he anchored the team to gold in the 4 x 100 m relay along with squad members Jason Gardener, Marlon Devonish and Allyn Condon, just beating Asafa Powell of Jamaica in a very tight photo finish.
In 2005 Darren received and MBE for his outstanding services to British Athletics.
Darren has represented Super Schools for over 10 years making many appearances devoting his personal time and effort back to schools.
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