Ben Offereins (born 12 March 1986) is an Australian track and field athlete. He became national 400 m champion and also represented Australia internationally.

Biography

Born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Offereins' family moved to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in 1987. He has been running from a young age, starting out in little athletics and has progressed through to the senior ranks. His first National title came in winning the 200m at the 2003 Under 18 Australian Championships where he also won the silver medal in the 100m. He had his first major 400m win the next year at the Under 20 Australian Championships, which earned him a position on the Australian team for the IAAF World Junior Championships, in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

, Italy in July 2004. He participated in the individual 400m as well as the 4 × 400 m relay. In 2005 still as a junior he entered the open

Australian National Championships Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

for the 400m where he won the gold medal defeating 3 members of the Australian 4 × 400 m relay team which won the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The next few seasons saw Offereins plagued by injuries until June 2009 when he set a new personal best for the 400m of 45.69s, a World Championships B qualifier, which earned him the final position on the Australian 4 × 400 m relay team for Berlin 2009. Running a sensational third leg during the heat (44.78s) Offereins forced his way into the team for the final where the Australian team of John Steffensen, Ben Offereins,

Tristan Thomas Tristan Thomas (born 23 May 1986 in Brisbane) is an Australian track and field athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles.Sean Wroe Sean Wroe (born 19 March 1985) is an Australian sprinter. He was born in Melbourne to a Japanese Australian mother and is a fluent Japanese speaker. Wroe competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay. He placed 21st in ...

, won the bronze medal for Australia. In 2010 Offereins started his season by winning the Australia Cup held 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 ...

in a new PB of 45.32 sec, he then broke his PB again at the Sydney Track Classic running 44.86sec and becoming only the eighth Australian to break the 45.00 sec barrier and the seventh fastest Australian of all time. He continued his form, winning the IAAF Melbourne Track Classic in 45.73sec, and then the Australian National Championships in 45.17 sec. This gained him automatic selection for the individual 400m and the 4x400 relay at the 2010

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 ...

in Delhi, India. At the

Athletics Australia Australian Athletics is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Australian Sports Commission for the sport of athletics in Australia. Founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 reg ...

annual end of season awards night he was named the Male athlete of the year for the 2010 Australian Domestic season. He represented Australia at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, as part of the men's 4 x 400-metre relay team.

References

External links

* * * * * * * 1986 births Living people Australian male sprinters Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from Western Australia Track and field athletes from Western Australia Australian Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Australian sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub