Francois Robert de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner. De Castella is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" to the Australian public, and "Tree" to his competitors due to his thick legs and inner calm. He holds the Oceanic record for the marathon.

Early life

De Castella is of French and Swiss-French descent. His family were part of both the

French nobility The French nobility () was an Aristocracy, aristocratic social class in France from the France in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First French Empire, ...

and

Swiss nobility Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a collection of semi-autonomous cantons. As membership of the confederation has fluctuated throughout history, each of these cantons has its own unique history and nobility. Typically, each ca ...

. He was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, the eldest of seven children. Sport was a way of life in his family – his father Rolet ran marathons in the 1950s. His mother Anne was a state-level tennis player. His brother Nicholas, took part in four World Cross Country Championships, whereas brother Anthony competed in running at club level for more than 25 years. Rob de Castella attended Xavier College in Melbourne where he was an outstanding track athlete and trained under Pat Clohessy from the age of 11.

Marathon career

De Castella wanted to represent Australia at the Olympics in Moscow and reckoned his best chance was in the marathon. He won the Australian championship and finished second in the Australian Olympic trials to gain a place on the 1980 Olympic team.

1980 Olympic Games Moscow

At his first big international marathon competition, DeCastella finished 10th in a time of 2:14:31, in a field of 74 runners. 21 competitors did not finish.

1981 Fukuoka Marathon

De Castella first came to international attention when he won the 1981 Fukuoka Marathon in a time of 2:08:18, which was the fastest time recorded for an out-and-back course. It was not initially known to be a world best time, because his time was 5 seconds slower than the time set by

Alberto Salazar Alberto Salazar (born August 7, 1958) is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where ...

in the 1981

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

. It later emerged that the New York course was about 148 metres short. De Castella's time was later ratified as the world record.

1982 Commonwealth Games Marathon

De Castella was the favourite to win the marathon at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. At the start of the race,

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

ns Gidamis Shahanga and

Juma Ikangaa Juma Ikangaa (born 19 July 1957 in Dodoma) is a former marathon runner from Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the ...

raced to the lead and were 50 m ahead of the pack after five minutes. After the 20 km mark, this gap had widened to several hundred meters. At the halfway mark, De Castella developed

diarrhoea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

. In 100% humidity, he let go of his bowels and signalled for some damp towels from his crew members. By the 23 km mark, Ikangaa had taken the lead from his compatriot, with de Castella in the main pack some 250 m behind but closing. De Castella passed the now-tiring Shahanga at the 38 km mark, and in the next kilometre drew level with Ikangaa and then took the lead. However, Ikangaa was not done yet, and he re-took the lead slightly. The duel continued for the remainder of the race. Eventually, de Castella pulled away and won by 80 metres in a time of 2:09:18, 12 seconds ahead of Ikangaa. Briton Mike Gratton finished third in 2:12:06, and Shahanga faded to finish 6th. The race finished on the streets of Brisbane, not in the main stadium.

1983 Rotterdam Marathon

In April 1983, De Castella defeated a deep field to win the Rotterdam Marathon. The race was billed as a clash between de Castella and Salazar, who at the time was undefeated, and was also televised live back to Australia. De Castella dropped all of the field except

Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner and world-record holder in the marathon. He won the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon, marathon at the 1984 Summer Olym ...

(who would win the Olympic marathon the next year), and defeated Lopes in a sprint for the finish, winning in a time of 2:08:37. De Castella's time was, at that point, the fourth fastest in history.

1983 IAAF World Championships

De Castella won Australia's first athletic World Championships gold medal when he won the marathon in August

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, beating Ethiopian

Kebede Balcha Kebede Balcha (7 September 1951 – 10 July 2018) was a marathon runner from Ethiopia. He won the silver medal at the 1983 World Championships. He is the current record holder for the Montreal International Marathon with 2 hours 10 minutes 3 sec ...

by 24 seconds and Olympic champion

Waldemar Cierpinski Waldemar Cierpinski (born 3 August 1950) is a former East German athlete and two-time Olympic champion in the marathon. Career Cierpinski was born in Neugattersleben, East Germany to Polish parents who had moved to Germany in 1945. ...

by 34 seconds.

1984 Olympic Games

De Castella was the favourite for the 1984 Summer Olympics marathon. He ran in a leading group of ten until about the 35 kilometres mark, when at a drink station, six leading runners picked up speed and de Castella could not keep up. He caught some of the leaders during the final kilometres, and finished fifth.

1986 Commonwealth Games

De Castella defended his Commonwealth Games title in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, winning in 2:10:15.

Cross country running

In addition to marathon running, de Castella was also an accomplished cross country runner. He won the Australian national title once as a junior and four times as a senior, along with five other podium finishes. He competed eight times at the World Cross Country Championships from 1977 to 1986, finishing in the top 20 five times.

Post career and life

De Castella failed to finish the marathon at the 1987 World Athletics Championships. He represented Australia at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics, competing in four straight Olympic Games. He finished in the top ten in three Olympics, but never won a medal. He retired from the sport in 1993 and lives in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, together with his wife Theresa and four children. Previously he was married to the former champion triathlete Gaylene Clews. He lost his family home, along with many of his medals and other citations, in the 2003 Canberra bushfires. Choosing to move rather than rebuild, he now lives in a nearby suburb. He later helped with the taskforce established for the reconstruction of areas worst affected by the fires. From 1990 to 1995, de Castella was the director of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

and subsequently became executive director of ''Focus On You'', a company focusing on corporate and community health and fitness. He has also been actively involved in other organisations dedicated to encouraging healthy living for both children and adults. He also fronts the Indigenous Marathon Project. In 2009, he founded the Stromlo Running Festival, an annual trail running event held at Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra. In 2014 he was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

at the Australia Day honours. In 2003, de Castella launched "deeks", a specialist chain of grain and gluten free bakeries & cafés. In 2004, he earned a black belt in the traditional Okinawan Goju Ryu; he has also been part of a long-running advertising campaign for the multi-vitamin tablet "Centrum". On 10 October 2023, de Castella was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.

Results

* 1977 – won the Sydney City to Surf in 41' 12" * 1979 – won the Victorian Championship in 2h 14'44" and the Australian marathon title in 2h 13'23" * 1980 – 10th in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

marathon in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, 2h 14'31"; 8th at the Fukuoka Marathon in 2h 10'44" * 1981 – won the Fukuoka Marathon in 2h 08'18" (

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

from 1981 to 1984) * 1981 – won and set fastest time of 40'08" in City to Surf, Sydney. (this time bettered in 1991) * 1982 – won the

marathon in

in 2h 09'18" * 1983 – won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2h 08'37" * 1983 – won the

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st World Championships in Athletics (; ) were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium (Helsinki), Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983 ...

marathon in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in 2h 10'03" * 1984 – 5th in the Olympic Marathon in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2h 11'09" * 1984 – 3rd in the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

in 2h 09'09" * 1985 – 3rd in the Chicago Marathon in 2h 08'48" * 1986 – won the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

marathon in

in 2h 10'15" * 1986 – won the

Boston marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

in 2h 07'51" (personal best) * 1987 – won the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shie ...

in 1h 02'04" * 1988 – 4th in the

Tokyo International Marathon The Tokyo International Marathon was a marathon for male elite runners held in Tokyo, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the wes ...

in 2h 08'49" * 1988 – 8th in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

marathon in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

in 2h 13'07" * 1990 – 13th in the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...

marathon in 2h 18'50" * 1991 – won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2h 09'42" * 1992 – finished 26th in Olympic Marathon, Barcelona in 2h 17'44"

Records

As of May 2009, de Castella still held the following records: * Australian U20 10,000 m – 28'54"4 on 16 December 1976 in Melbourne * Australian 20 km Track – 58.37.2 on 17 April 1982 in Rome * Australian 1 hr – 20,516 m on 17 April 1982 in Rome * Australian All Comers Marathon – 2h 09'18" in Brisbane Commonwealth Games 1982 * Australian Marathon – 2h 07'51" at the 1986 Boston Marathon

Other awards

*1982 –

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in recognition of service to athletics. *1983 – Australian of the Year *1985 –

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

*2000 –

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for significant contribution as a competitor (Athletics). *2001 –

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

service to the sport of athletics and to sports administration. *2001 –

'Best of the Best' *2014 –

for distinguished service to the community through programs promoting children's health and fitness, as a supporter and mentor of young Indigenous men and women, and to marathon running.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Castella, Robert 1957 births Living people Athletes from Melbourne Australian male long-distance runners Australian male marathon runners Olympic male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners Australian Athletics Championships winners Japan Championships in Athletics winners Boston Marathon male winners World record setters in athletics (track and field) Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Australian of the Year Award winners People educated at Xavier College Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Australian Institute of Sport administrators Australian people of Swiss-Italian descent Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Australian republicans Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from Victoria (state)