Iwan Gwyn Thomas (born 5 January 1974) is a Welsh sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in the 400 metres, and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at the

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 ...

. Thomas is a former European,

and World

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

champion. Thomas is the former UK 400 m record holder, with his time of 44.36s set in Birmingham on 13 July 1997 standing until Matthew Hudson-Smith broke the record in May 2022. He was also a member of the team which held the European 4 × 400 m relay record of 2:56.60, set in Atlanta, USA in the Olympic final on 3 August 1996 until it was broken at the

2024 Summer 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 ...

. Thomas's coach for much of his running career was Mike Smith, formerly coach to British 400 m runners Roger Black, Todd Bennett and Paul Harmsworth also hurdler Kriss Akabusi. Thomas was made a

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 ...

(MBE) in 1998.

Athletics career

His initial athletics breakthrough came at the World Junior Championships in 1992 as part of the British

team that finished fifth. Thomas attended Stamford School and West London Institute of Higher Education, where he studied Sports Science and Geography. While still at university, he took part in the 1994 Commonwealth Games 400 m where he reached the semi-finals, representing Wales. From there, he was selected to represent Britain in the relay at the 1995 European Cup and secured his first championship gold medal. At the 1996 Olympic Games in

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, Thomas finished fifth in the final and took a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m event (in which the team broke the European record, which stood until 2024). He also represented Britain in the 2000 Olympics but was not selected for the individual event and despite running the fastest leg for the British team in the 4 × 400 m relay, did not secure a medal (the team took 5th place in the final). Thomas was a member of the Great Britain 4 × 400 m team at the 1997 World Championships in Athens. The team (Iwan Thomas, Roger Black, Jamie Baulch and Mark Richardson) finished second by 0.18 seconds to the United States. However, in 2008, US team member Antonio Pettigrew, who ran the second leg of the final, testified in the court case against trainer Trevor Graham that he had been aided by performance- enhancing substances between 1997 and 2001, including the 1997 World Championships. As the International Amateur Athletics Federation did not, as of 2008, change results retrospectively more than eight years after the event, initially the GB team was not awarded the gold medal retrospectively, although Pettigrew had returned his medals won in that period. Thomas' career was hampered by injury including a stress fracture to his ankle in 1999 that required telescopic surgery. He was again injured in 2003 with damage to his Achilles. Further injury in 2004 ruled him out of the 2004 Olympic Games. Thomas was selected in 2006 for the Welsh team for the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

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, but was unable to compete due to an injury. On 7 January 2010 it was announced that Great Britain's 1997 World Championship 4 × 400 m relay team were to be awarded the gold medal they were denied by the disqualified USA team. New medals were minted for the ceremony, as not all of the American quartet returned the originals. Thomas received his gold medal in May 2010 in a presentation by Alun Ffred Jones at

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

. Iwan never officially retired from athletics but took the opportunity to do so when offered by Andy Goldstein on 3 July 2012 edition of the Andy Goldstein's Sports Bar on TalkSPORT. He remained the UK record-holder in the 4 × 400 m relay until it was broken at the

Personal life

His father was born to Welsh-born parents in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, whilst his mother's

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

speaking family were centred around the village of Llandderfel,

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

. Iwan Thomas was born in Farnborough and now lives in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. After winning '' Deadline'', he bought himself a Ducati 1098 motorcycle. Although a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, in 2010 he became an ambassador for The Saints Foundation, the charity of Southampton F.C.

Television work

In 2008, Thomas guest presented two episodes of '' Best of Friends'', in the sports special with Darren Campbell and in the activities special with Zoe Salmon. Iwan took part in the celebrity games of the Million Pound Drop Live broadcast on Friday 10 August 2012. Thomas is co-presenter of MotoGP Tonight on BT Sport alongside Craig Doyle. He can also be seen presenting the Chequered Flag show immediately following MotoGP races. On 27 August 2015, Thomas was announced as a contestant in the 2015 series of '' Strictly Come Dancing''. On 5 September 2015 it was announced Thomas had been paired with professional dancer Ola Jordan for the series. He was the first contestant to be eliminated. In September 2016, Thomas was a presenter of the Paralympics Games in Rio for Channel 4 where he commentated on the athletics coverage presented from the Olympic Stadium. In February 2017, Thomas was a guest at "dictionary corner" on '' Countdown'', on Channel 4. In 2022, Thomas took part in Celebrity Hunted for stand up to cancer. He was the only celebrity to win that series, with his teammate Richard Whitehead being caught earlier when a taunt against the Hunters backfired.

Other activities

Thomas made a guest appearance as a cyclist at the final round of the 2008-09 Revolution series at Manchester Velodrome, competing in the 200 m

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

. Thomas took part in the London Marathon 2015. Thomas joined the Ecover Sailing Team in 2009 as part of an Extreme 40 event. He was the fifth man on their boat on 31 July, racing catamarans around Egypt Point in Cowes, for a practice day of the iShares cup. Thomas, a keen motorcyclist, became a co-host of a new motorbike podcast called Full Chat in April 2024. Teaming up with former professional footballer David Prutton, the pair discuss all things two wheels and welcome a host of celebrity guests on the show.

References

External links

Official website
*

Sprint Start – a scheme to improve children's fitness
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Iwan 1974 births Living people People from Farnborough, London Athletes from the London Borough of Bromley British male sprinters Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Wales Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Wales Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games English people of Welsh descent Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Welsh Olympic competitors World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Stamford School Alumni of Brunel University London Athletes from Southampton Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships winners Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics