Iwan Thomas
Encyclopedia
Iwan Gwyn Thomas MBE
(born 5 January 1974 in Farnborough
, London Borough of Bromley) is a sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games
in the 400 m, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games
. Thomas is the current UK record holder at 400 m with a time of 44.36 seconds and is a former European and Commonwealth games champion. He is also the current holder of the Commonwealth Games record in the 400 m.
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 Athletics Cup and secured his first championship gold medal.
Thomas's coach for much of his running career was Mike Smith, formerly coach to British 400 m runners Roger Black
and Todd Bennett
and also hurdler Kris Akabusi. Thomas was awarded an MBE
in 1998.
, 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.
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. 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
.
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.
. After winning Deadline, he bought himself a Ducati 1098
motorcycle. He is a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, 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.
', alongside Darren Campbell
and Zöe Salmon
.
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
.
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
.
Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Total Wipeout
which aired on 18 September 2010.
Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Egg Heads which aired on 22 December 2010.
Iwan took part in a celebrity version of the children's TV show Jungle Run
.
in 2009 as part of an Extreme 40
event. He was the 5th man on their boat on 31 July, racing catamarans around Egypt Point in Cowes
, for a practice day of the iShares cup.
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(born 5 January 1974 in Farnborough
Farnborough, London
Farnborough is a settlement in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a suburban development located 13.4 miles southeast of Charing Cross.-History:...
, London Borough of Bromley) is a sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in the 400 m, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
. Thomas is the current UK record holder at 400 m with a time of 44.36 seconds and is a former European and Commonwealth games champion. He is also the current holder of the Commonwealth Games record in the 400 m.
Biography
His initial athletics breakthrough came at the World Junior Championships in 1992 as part of the British 4x400 m relay team that finished 5th. Thomas Stamford SchoolStamford School
Stamford School is an English independent school situated in the market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It has been a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference since 1920.-History:...
and West London Institute of Higher Education
West London Institute of Higher Education
The West London Institute of Higher Education was located in Isleworth, West London, UK from 1976 until 1995 when it merged with Brunel University.- Establishment :...
, where he studied Sports Science and Geography. While still at university, he took part in the 1994 Commonwealth Games
1994 Commonwealth Games
The 1994 Commonwealth Games were held in Victoria, in the province of British Columbia in Canada, from 18 August to 28 August 1994.The XV Commonwealth Games marked South Africa's return to the Commonwealth Games following the apartheid era, and over 30 years since the country last competed in the...
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 Athletics Cup and secured his first championship gold medal.
Thomas's coach for much of his running career was Mike Smith, formerly coach to British 400 m runners Roger Black
Roger Black
Roger Anthony Black MBE is a retired British athlete. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4x400 metres relay gold medals at both the...
and Todd Bennett
Todd Bennett
Todd Anthony Bennett was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.He competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the Silver medal with his team mates Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook and Philip...
and also hurdler Kris Akabusi. Thomas was awarded an MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
in 1998.
Olympics
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.World Championships
Thomas was a member of the Great Britain 4x400m team at the 1997 World Athletics Championships in Athens. The team (Iwan Thomas, Roger BlackRoger Black
Roger Anthony Black MBE is a retired British athlete. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4x400 metres relay gold medals at both the...
, Jamie Baulch
Jamie Baulch
James Steven Baulch , but raised by foster parents in Risca, near Newport, is a British sprint athlete and television presenter. He won the 400 metres gold medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. As a member of British 4 x 400 metres relay teams, he won a gold medal at the 1997 World...
and Mark Richardson
Mark Richardson (athlete)
Mark Ashton Richardson is a British former athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.He competed for Great Britain in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, United States in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the silver medal with his team mates Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch and Roger Black...
) finished second by 0.18 seconds to the United States. However, in 2008, US team member Antonio Pettigrew
Antonio Pettigrew
Antonio Pettigrew was an American sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters. He was born in Macon, Georgia....
, who ran the second leg of the final, testified in the court case against trainer Trevor Graham
Trevor Graham
Trevor Graham is a Jamaican-born former athletics coach, based in the United States. Following the BALCO scandal, the US Olympic Committee barred him indefinitely from all its training sites as a number of the athletes he was training had tested positive for drug abuse.-Athletics career:Graham was...
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.
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. 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
Alun Ffred Jones
Alun Ffred Jones is a Welsh politician and member of Plaid Cymru. Jones was the National Assembly for Wales Member for Caernarfon 2003–07 and for the newly created Arfon constituency since the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007....
at Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...
.
Injury setbacks
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
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, but was unable to compete due to an injury.
Personal life
Thomas lives in SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. After winning Deadline, he bought himself a Ducati 1098
Ducati 1098
The Ducati 1098 is a sport bike manufactured by the Italian motorcycle company Ducati since 2007. There were three different versions, called the 1098, 1098S, and 1098R...
motorcycle. He is a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, 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.
Television work
Thomas worked as a guest presenter of the Children's television show 'Best Of FriendsBest of Friends
-Tasks and Treats:In the show, five friends with a strong friendship must complete a series of three unpleasant tasks in order to win a final treat The tasks include mucking out pigs, cleaning bins, picking up ice with the bare feet, getting your feet tickled without laughing or smiling and so on,...
', alongside Darren Campbell
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...
and Zöe Salmon
Zöe Salmon
Zöe Salmon is a television presenter who hosted the children's television show Blue Peter from 23 December 2004 to 25 June 2008. She also appeared on Dancing on Ice in early 2009.-Life and career:...
.
He is a regular panelist on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's Through The Keyhole
Through the Keyhole
Through the Keyhole was a British panel game, hosted by Sir David Frost where panellists are given a video tour of a mystery famous guest's property and attempt to identify them. As of 1996, it is produced by David Frost's own production company, Paradine Productions at The Leeds Studios , and has...
, was a contestant on Superstars
Superstars
Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon....
on both BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
and Five and took part in BBC One's Hole In The Wall
Hole in the Wall (UK game show)
Hole in the Wall was a game show that airs on BBC One in the United Kingdom. This game is an adaptation of the Japanese game Brain Wall in which players must contort themselves to fit through cutout holes of varying shapes in a large polystyrene wall moving towards them as they stand in front of a...
. He has also been a contestant on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's Celebrity MasterChef, and The Real Hustle
The Real Hustle
The Real Hustle is a BBC television series made by Objective Productions and written by Alexis Conran and Paul Wilson. The show demonstrates confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets performed on members of the public by presenters Conran, Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement...
.
Thomas can also be seen as a regular guest of Channel 5's The Wright Stuff
The Wright Stuff
The Wright Stuff is a British television chat show, hosted by Matthew Wright, and currently airing on Channel 5 each weekday morning from 9:15 to 11:10am....
. 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
Eamonn Holmes
Eamonn Holmes is an Northern Irish journalist and broadcaster. He is known for his work on UK and Irish television, notably presenting GMTV and This Morning. He is married to TV presenter Ruth Langsford.-Education:...
. He starred in Daily Cooks Challenge as a judge alongside presenter Antony Worrall Thompson
Antony Worrall Thompson
Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson is a British celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster.-Biography:...
.
Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Total Wipeout
Total Wipeout
Total Wipeout is a British game show, hosted by Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram, which first aired on 3 January 2009. Each week 20 contestants compete in a series of challenges in an attempt to win £10,000. These challenges are based in large pools of water or mud and generally involve large...
which aired on 18 September 2010.
Iwan took part in a celebrity version of TV show Egg Heads which aired on 22 December 2010.
Iwan took part in a celebrity version of the children's TV show Jungle Run
Jungle Run
Jungle Run was a British television series which aired on CITV as part of the ITV network from 1999 to 2006. It is a game show similar to Fort Boyard and The Crystal Maze...
.
Other activities
Iwan Thomas joined the Ecover Sailing TeamEcover Sailing Team
The Ecover Sailing team is competing in the iShares Cup 2009, showcasing world class racing around Europe. The races take place in Venice, Hyères, Cowes, Kiel, Amsterdam and Almeria.-Sponsors:...
in 2009 as part of an Extreme 40
Extreme 40
The Extreme 40 is a class of sailing catamaran created by TornadoSport and designed by Yves Loday. 40 feet long and constructed of carbon fibre. They have a top speed of about 40 knots and can sail at about 35 knots in 20-25 knots of wind. The first extreme 40 was launched in 2005. They are...
event. He was the 5th man on their boat on 31 July, racing catamarans around Egypt Point in Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
, for a practice day of the iShares cup.