Craig Nicholas Winrow (born 22 December 1971 in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

) is an English male retired

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

competing primarily in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

Early life

Winrow was educated at Burscough Priory High School in

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. As a 14 year old student in 1986, he "shattered" the Lancashire Schools' County Athletics Championships in the event, finishing with a time of 2 minutes and 1.3 seconds, beating the previous best by 3 seconds. At the age of 15, he was running in 49 seconds and in 1 minute 51.8 seconds, which was almost level with the UK age-best for his age group. By the age of 16, he was being sponsored by local computer firm

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Hi-Tech, where he planned to join on a

youth training scheme The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was the name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17 and was managed by the Manpower Services Commission. The scheme was first outlined in the 1980 white paper ''A N ...

after leaving school. As a young athlete, he looked up to

Steve Ovett Stephen Michael James Ovett, (; born 9 October 1955) is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett set five world records for 1500 metre ...

and was aiming to compete in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. In 1987, he was described by

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

as being "the most exciting 800-metre prospect in Britain since the schooldays of

Cram Cram may refer to: * Cram (surname), a surname, and list of notable persons having the surname * Cram.com, a website for creating and sharing flashcards * ''Cram'' (Australian game show), a television show * ''Cram'' (game show), a TV game show ...

and Coe." Success in athletics came relatively early during his school days, having originally been a sprinter and was described as having "the heritage of a sprint finish that has subsequently devastated his peers".

Athletics career

In the summer of 1989, he was the winner of the

1989 European Athletics Junior Championships The 1989 European Athletics Junior Championships was the tenth edition of the biennial athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was held in Varaždin, Yugoslavia (present-day Croatia) between 24 and 27 August.

800-metre event in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, having initially trailed but overtook everyone on the final lap to victory. He loved running and was known to tell others what they were missing, suggesting that if he wasn't running then he may be "working in a packing factory or something." Winrow became the British 800 metres champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the 1994 AAA Championships. He represented

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 ...

in the 800 metres event at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He represented Great Britain at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

reaching the semifinals. His personal bests in the event are 1:45.23 outdoors (Rome 1996) and 1:47.78 indoors (Glasgow 1994).

Coaching

Nowadays he works as a coach. He has trained, among others,

Andrew Osagie Andrew Osagie (born 19 February 1988 in Harlow, Essex) is an English athlete who specialises in the 800 metres. He represents Harlow Athletic Club at club level and Great Britain at international level. He is the fourth fastest Briton of all t ...

and

Adelle Tracey Adelle Tracey (born 27 May 1993) is a middle-distance runner primarily in the 800 metres. Tracey has represented Jamaica since 2022 after formerly running for Great Britain. She placed fourth in the event at the 2018 European Athletics Champ ...

Competition record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winrow, Craig 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Ormskirk English male middle-distance runners British male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for England Olympic athletes for Great Britain