Kim Collins
Encyclopedia
Kim Collins is a track and field
sprinter from the Caribbean
nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis
. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 m. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, from 1996 to 2008, and was the country's first athlete to ever reach an event final. He has also competed at eight consecutive editions of the World Championships, beginning in 1997 and up to 2011.
Collins was the bronze medal
list over 200 m at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics
and became the 100 m champion at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
with a personal best run of 9.98 seconds, breaking the 10-second barrier
. He won a silver medal
over 60 metres
at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
, before going on to take his outdoor crown. He also won sprint medals at the 2005 World Championships
, 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships
and 2011 World Championships
.
. He competed on behalf of his country in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics.
Collins made his debut at major championship at the 1997 World Championships
, where he failed to qualify for the second round in the 100 m. He improved quickly, and at the 2000 Summer Olympics
, he became the first athlete from his nation to qualify for an Olympic final, finishing 7th in the 100 m. The next year, Collins would win St. Kitts' first World Championship medal, when he tied for the bronze medal in the 200 m.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games
, he won his first major title. After the 100 m race, which Collins won after two other favourites pulled out of the final with an injury, he tested positive for doping. However, it was found that the banned substance was part of the asthma
medication Collins had been taking for several years, but had neglected to mention to the medical commission. Collins eventually was allowed to keep his title, and got away with a warning.
Collins was featured on a set of two stamps from St Kitts
issued in 2002.
The 100 m at the 2003 World Championships
(sometimes called the "World's Fastest Man" competition) became the biggest triumph of his career. With Olympic and World Champion Maurice Greene
eliminated in the semi finals, the field was wide open. In a very close race, where the top four athletes finished within 0.02 seconds, Collins won and became the first world champion from Saint Kitts and Nevis.
At the 2005 World Championships
, Collins claimed a bronze medal in the 100 m behind Justin Gatlin
and Michael Frater
though he was given the same time as the latter.
Finishing fourth in his heat, Collins qualified for the finals in the men's 200 m race in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished in sixth place on 20 August 2008. He competed at the 2009 World Championships
and reached the quarter-finals of the competition
, but he was eliminated after finishing in fourth place behind eventual finalists Asafa Powell
, Darvis Patton
and Marc Burns
. He announced his retirement from international athletics in September that year, bringing an end to a career that spanned almost 17 years.
Seeing that his body was in good condition, Collins returned to athletics on 29 January 2011 at the Aviva International Match
in Glasgow, reversing his retirement at the age of 34, and he finished fourth in the 200 metres. After experiencing a good week of training, he took a win at the Russian Winter Meeting
in Moscow
. He surprised with a 60 m personal best and national record of 6.52 seconds to win at the PSD Bank Meeting
in Düsseldorf
, overhauling his best mark which he had set nearly eleven years earlier. That time did not stand for as long, however, as he ran 6.50 seconds in the heats of the BW-Bank Meeting
a few days later. Collins celebrated his return to the track in unlikely fashion, winning both his heat and semi-final races in the 100m at the 2011 World Championships
before finishing third and winning a bronze medal in the final after the disqualification of Usain Bolt. At the Men's 4x100m Relay Qualifying Heats, Collins ran the second leg for the St Kitts and Nevis relay squad and helped clock a National Record of 38.47. The timing led Kim and his team to a first-ever final. The last event saw Collins team up with Jason Rogers, Antoine Adams and Brijesh Lawrence to clock 38.49, only 0.02 slower than the national record in the heats but good enough for a first-ever bronze for the St Kitts and Nevis squad.
At the XVI PanAmerican Games in Guadalajara 2011, Collins proved he is only getting better with age. On Monday, October 24th, 2011 Collins shattered a 28-year-old PanAmerican Games record when he ran a time of 10.00, eclipsing the old record of 10.06 seconds held by Cuba’s Penalver Leandro. Running out of lane 4 Collins looked at ease and was never challenged in the race by any of the other competitors. After two false starts in his heat, Collins remained focus and was able to demonstrate to the western hemisphere his true potentials. Kim Collins won his heat resoundingly establishing a new Pan American Games Record of 10.00 seconds, 200ths of a second from his lifetime best. After his record-breaking performance, the 35-year-old, Collins was firm favourite going into the Finals but was edged out of the Gold Medal by Jamaica's Lerone Clarke, leaving Collins with the Silver. Running from the 3rd lane with a +0.2 headwind, Kim Collins got off to his usual fast start but was challenged all the way by Lerone Clark who went on to edge Collins 10.04 on the line with a 10.02 clocking. Kim Collins' silver medal was the first-ever medal for St. Kitts and nevis at the Pan-Am Games.
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
sprinter from the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....
. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 m. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, from 1996 to 2008, and was the country's first athlete to ever reach an event final. He has also competed at eight consecutive editions of the World Championships, beginning in 1997 and up to 2011.
Collins was the bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
list over 200 m at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics
2001 World Championships in Athletics
The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...
and became the 100 m champion at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
with a personal best run of 9.98 seconds, breaking the 10-second barrier
10-second barrier
The 10-second barrier is a term used in track and field athletics which refers to the physical and psychological barrier of completing the men's 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds...
. He won a silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
over 60 metres
60 metres
60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes...
at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK from 14 March to 16 March 2003. It was the first time the Championships had been held in the UK...
, before going on to take his outdoor crown. He also won sprint medals at the 2005 World Championships
2005 World Championships in Athletics
The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...
, 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships
2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7-9, 2008.-Bid:Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Russia.-Men:...
and 2011 World Championships
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011....
.
Career
Collins competed in college for Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
. He competed on behalf of his country in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics.
Collins made his debut at major championship at the 1997 World Championships
1997 World Championships in Athletics
The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 198 participant nations...
, where he failed to qualify for the second round in the 100 m. He improved quickly, and at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, he became the first athlete from his nation to qualify for an Olympic final, finishing 7th in the 100 m. The next year, Collins would win St. Kitts' first World Championship medal, when he tied for the bronze medal in the 200 m.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
, he won his first major title. After the 100 m race, which Collins won after two other favourites pulled out of the final with an injury, he tested positive for doping. However, it was found that the banned substance was part of the asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
medication Collins had been taking for several years, but had neglected to mention to the medical commission. Collins eventually was allowed to keep his title, and got away with a warning.
Collins was featured on a set of two stamps from St Kitts
Saint Kitts and Nevis
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....
issued in 2002.
The 100 m at the 2003 World Championships
2003 World Championships in Athletics
The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Track:...
(sometimes called the "World's Fastest Man" competition) became the biggest triumph of his career. With Olympic and World Champion Maurice Greene
Maurice Greene (athlete)
Maurice Greene is a retired American track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion...
eliminated in the semi finals, the field was wide open. In a very close race, where the top four athletes finished within 0.02 seconds, Collins won and became the first world champion from Saint Kitts and Nevis.
At the 2005 World Championships
2005 World Championships in Athletics
The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...
, Collins claimed a bronze medal in the 100 m behind Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin is an American sprinter. He is an Olympic gold medalist, with a 100 m personal best of 9.85 seconds. He served a four-year ban from track and field for testing positive for a banned substance; Gatlin had appealed the ban in 2009, but it was later denied.- Biography :Gatlin attended...
and Michael Frater
Michael Frater
Michael Frater O.D is a sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres event. He won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games for the event....
though he was given the same time as the latter.
Finishing fourth in his heat, Collins qualified for the finals in the men's 200 m race in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished in sixth place on 20 August 2008. He competed at the 2009 World Championships
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
and reached the quarter-finals of the competition
2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 100 metres
The men's 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics were held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 16. The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champion Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder...
, but he was eliminated after finishing in fourth place behind eventual finalists Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...
, Darvis Patton
Darvis Patton
Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton is an American sprint athlete. He was the US Champion and World silver medallist over 200 meters in 2003...
and Marc Burns
Marc Burns
Marc Burns is an athlete from Trinidad and Tobago specializing in the 100 metres and the 4x100 metres.Participating in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was disqualified from his 100 metres heat, thus failing to make it through to the second round.Marc Burns placed second in the men's 100 metres dash...
. He announced his retirement from international athletics in September that year, bringing an end to a career that spanned almost 17 years.
Seeing that his body was in good condition, Collins returned to athletics on 29 January 2011 at the Aviva International Match
Aviva International Match
The Aviva International Match is an annual indoor track and field athletics meeting which takes place in late January in Glasgow, Scotland. The televised competition is the first major indoor event in the United Kingdom's athletics calendar. It has been held at the Kelvin Hall International Sports...
in Glasgow, reversing his retirement at the age of 34, and he finished fourth in the 200 metres. After experiencing a good week of training, he took a win at the Russian Winter Meeting
Russian Winter Meeting
The Russian Winter Meeting is an annual indoor track and field competition which is held at the Kutz Arena within the CSKA Universal Sports Hall in Moscow, Russia, every February...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He surprised with a 60 m personal best and national record of 6.52 seconds to win at the PSD Bank Meeting
PSD Bank Meeting
The PSD Bank Meeting is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in February at the Arena-Sportpark in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event was first held in 2006 and attracted a sell-out crowd of 1500 people at the inaugural edition...
in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, overhauling his best mark which he had set nearly eleven years earlier. That time did not stand for as long, however, as he ran 6.50 seconds in the heats of the BW-Bank Meeting
BW-Bank Meeting
The BW-Bank Meeting is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in January or February in Karlsruhe, Germany. The meeting was first held at the Europahalle in 1985 and is currently an IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting...
a few days later. Collins celebrated his return to the track in unlikely fashion, winning both his heat and semi-final races in the 100m at the 2011 World Championships
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011....
before finishing third and winning a bronze medal in the final after the disqualification of Usain Bolt. At the Men's 4x100m Relay Qualifying Heats, Collins ran the second leg for the St Kitts and Nevis relay squad and helped clock a National Record of 38.47. The timing led Kim and his team to a first-ever final. The last event saw Collins team up with Jason Rogers, Antoine Adams and Brijesh Lawrence to clock 38.49, only 0.02 slower than the national record in the heats but good enough for a first-ever bronze for the St Kitts and Nevis squad.
At the XVI PanAmerican Games in Guadalajara 2011, Collins proved he is only getting better with age. On Monday, October 24th, 2011 Collins shattered a 28-year-old PanAmerican Games record when he ran a time of 10.00, eclipsing the old record of 10.06 seconds held by Cuba’s Penalver Leandro. Running out of lane 4 Collins looked at ease and was never challenged in the race by any of the other competitors. After two false starts in his heat, Collins remained focus and was able to demonstrate to the western hemisphere his true potentials. Kim Collins won his heat resoundingly establishing a new Pan American Games Record of 10.00 seconds, 200ths of a second from his lifetime best. After his record-breaking performance, the 35-year-old, Collins was firm favourite going into the Finals but was edged out of the Gold Medal by Jamaica's Lerone Clarke, leaving Collins with the Silver. Running from the 3rd lane with a +0.2 headwind, Kim Collins got off to his usual fast start but was challenged all the way by Lerone Clark who went on to edge Collins 10.04 on the line with a 10.02 clocking. Kim Collins' silver medal was the first-ever medal for St. Kitts and nevis at the Pan-Am Games.
Statistics
Personal bests
| Event | Date | Venue | Time (seconds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 metres 50 metres 50 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor athletics competitions it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes... (indoor) |
10 February 2009 | Liévin Liévin Liévin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Overview:The city of Liévin is an old mining city of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this modest-sized city nevertheless has several nursery schools, schools, colleges, a university, a swimming pool, a city library, a cultural and... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
5.75 |
| 55 metres 55 metres 55 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes.... (indoor) |
24 February 2001 | Reno, Nevada Reno, Nevada Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area... , United States |
6.24 |
| 60 metres 60 metres 60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes... (indoor) |
13 February 2011 | Karlsruhe Karlsruhe The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states... , Germany |
6.50 |
| 100 metres 100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896... |
27 July 2002 | Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... , England |
9.98 |
| 200 metres 200 metres A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first... |
9 August 2001 | Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... , Canada |
20.20 (NR) |
| 4x100 metres | 4 September 2011 | Daegu Daegu Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the... , Korea |
38.47 (NR) |
- All information from IAAF Profile