Jeffrey "Jeff" Riseley (born 11 November 1986 in

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated ma ...

) is an Australian middle-distance

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-dev ...

. Riseley competed in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

Early years

Riseley was seven when he began to participate in athletics. His family encouraged him as it would enable him to meet other children after the family had moved house. Riseley joined the under 8's at

Little Athletics and competed until he was 12. He lost interest but then returned to athletics in Year 11 in High School. Just before he turned 19, Riseley ran 1:52.7 for the 800m and in 2006 he clocked times of 1:49.0 for 800m and 3:48.91 for 1500m. Within 12 months, he ran times of 1:46.35 (800m) and 3:38.56 (1500m). Riseley's first major competition was the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federa ...

, competing in the Men's

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( 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 an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

and finishing in 40th place with a time of 1:48.33. In the same year he also competed at the Summer Universiade competition.

Achievements

Riseley competed at the 2009, 2011 and 2015 World championships. He won the 2009 Australian title, his first national title, in Brisbane. One of his finest achievements was running fifth in both the 800m and 1500m in the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

. Riseley won six 800m or 1500m national titles including the double in 2015, the first to achieve the double in 24 years. Riseley had to withdraw from the 2015

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

World Championships due to requiring double plantar fascia surgery. He then returned to good form in Europe with two 1:45 runs, just outside the Olympic standard, then on 20 June 2020 he managed to run the 800m in 1:44.85, his fastest time for nine years. In his Men's 800m heat at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

, Risely came fourth with a time of 1:45.41 and qualified for the semi-final, where he came fifth and did not progress to the final. Off the track, Jeff has a double degree in exercise sports science and sports management at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn P ...

and is currently studying a Masters in high performance sport at

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamati ...

(ACU).

Competition record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riseley, Jeffrey Australian male middle-distance runners 1986 births Living people Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Competitors at the 2007 Summer Universiade World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia People from Dandenong, Victoria Sportsmen from Victoria (state)