Benjamin Richardson (born 19 December 2003) is a South African track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. He was born in

Nelspruit Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, the city lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north of ...

, Mpumalanga.

Early life

Richardson attended Nelspruit Primary School, TuksSport High School, and studied at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

Career

In 2021, he won the silver medal in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

at the

2021 World Athletics U20 Championships The 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships, also known as the World Junior Championships, was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 2002), which was held from 18 to 22 August 2 ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya. At the same competition he won gold as part of the South African relay team. With Mihlali Xhotyeni, Sinesipho Dambile, Letlhogonolo Moleyane, the relay team broke the world U20 record, running 38.51 seconds. In April 2022, he lowered his personal best over 100 metres to 10.08,

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

. In August 2022, he won the bronze medal in the

at the

2022 World Athletics U20 Championships The 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships, also known colloquially by its former official title, the World Junior Championships, was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 2003 ...

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia. In August 2023, he was the youngest member of the South African team selected for the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He ran as part of the South African relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. In June 2024, he won bronze in the 100 metres at the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between Africa, African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports club, sports clubs. List of championships ;Athletics * African ...

in Cameroon. He set a new 100m personal best of 9.86 seconds and a new 200m personal best of 19.99 seconds in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

in July 2024. He was selected for the South African team for the

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. He competed in the 100 metres at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, where he reached the semi-finals. Unfortunately, in the Paris 2024 200m heats, Richardson pulled his hamstring and had to walk the race of the race, finishing over 30 seconds slower than his heatmates, then withdraw from the repechage round and the rest of the 2024 Olympics.

Statistics

References

2003 births Living people South African male sprinters Athletes from Pretoria University of Pretoria alumni World Athletics U20 Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for South Africa 21st-century South African sportsmen {{SouthAfrica-athletics-bio-stub