Christopher Patrick Lambert (born 6 April 1981 in

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) is a former professional sprinter from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He grew up on Southampton Way Estate in Peckham, London, attending to school at Oliver Goldsmith's Primary School in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

and

Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College Haberdashers' Hatcham College (formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College) is a state secondary school with academy status and a music specialism in New Cross, south-east London. The school was formerly a grammar school, then a comprehensi ...

, before attending

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he was a member of

The Phoenix – S K Club The Phoenix – S K Club is an all-male final club at Harvard College, sometimes referred to as The Phoenix or The P.S.K. The society traces its earliest roots to 1895, forming from the amalgamation and reorganization of the Sphinx, Kalumet, and ...

. As a junior athlete in 1999, Lambert finished 3rd at the European Junior Championships and ran the fastest time in the world over 200m for an U20 athlete. Named captain of the Great British Junior team in 2000, he was unable to compete for the majority of the season due to a hamstring injury but left the age group ranked 3rd on the national all-time list. At Harvard, Lambert broke 5 college and 3

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

records (for the 60m, 100m and 200m), winning 6 Ivy League titles and finishing 4th in the 2003

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

, becoming an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. On graduating and beginning a professional career, Lambert won gold in a championship record time at the

2003 European Athletics U23 Championships The 4th European Athletics U23 Championships were held in Bydgoszcz, Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 17 and 20 July 2003. Results Complete results and medal winners were published. Men's Women's †: In the ...

. He then became an Olympian, securing selection to TeamGB for the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, but due to injury he surrendered his place on the 4x100m relay team that went on to win the gold medal. He claimed a silver medal at the

2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Palacio de Deportes in Madrid, the capital city of Spain, from Friday, 4 March to Sunday, 6 March 2005. This was the first edition to b ...

then in an injury-plagued career he was also selected for but had to withdraw from the 2002

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

, 2005

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

and 2006

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

. He finally retired in 2008 due to complications resulting from suffering several

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running ...

s to the right tibia. Lambert remains a keen sports fan, focusing on athletics, football (lifelong

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

supporter), and golf.

International competitions

References

* * 1981 births Living people Athletes from London English male sprinters British male sprinters Olympic male sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Harvard Crimson men's track and field athletes Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Great Britain FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade 21st-century English sportsmen {{England-sprint-athletics-bio-stub