Joseph Deng (born 7 July 1998) is an Australian

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. In 2018, he broke the 800-metre Australian record (which had stood since the

1968 Mexico Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

) and five years later bettered the record again to 1:43.99. Deng also runs sprint distances, with 47.25 over the 400 m and a wind-aided 22.24 200 m.

Early years

Deng was born in

Kakuma Kakuma is a town in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR refugee camp, established in 1992. The population of Kakuma town was 60,000 in 2014, having grown from around 8,000 in 1990. In 1991, the camp was established to hos ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in a UNHCR refugee camp (first established in 1969). His mother left Sudan to escape the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originat ...

. In 2004, Deng's family moved to

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

when he was six and in 2010 he moved to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

at the age of 12. He first attended Raceview State School, where he was encouraged to attend after-school athletics coaching at

Ipswich Grammar School , motto_translation = Work and Honour , address = Darling Street , city = Ipswich , state = Queensland , postcode = 4305 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, single-sex, day & ...

under the guidance of coach Di Sheppard. Deng was later granted a scholarship at

and continued to be coached by Sheppard. His uncle John Deng also played a role in his development. At the age of 17, Deng was selected in the Australian team for the

2016 IAAF World U20 Championships The 2016 World U20 Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 1997) which was held at Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 19–24 J ...

. He finished third in the 800m semi-final in 1:48.49 but failed to qualify for the final. Later in 2016, he ran a personal best of 1:46.51. Following this, he moved to Melbourne to be coached by Justin Rinaldi, who had coached Alexander Rowe to run 1:44.40.

Breakthrough year

In 2018, Deng was controversially selected to compete in 800 m at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, ...

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the ...

having not qualifying for the final at the

Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athlete ...

. But in the B final he ran a personal best of 1:45.71 and was subsequently selected. At the Games, he finished seventh in the 800 m final in 1:47.20. In July 2018, at the

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

meeting in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

, he finished seventh in the 800 m but broke the Australian record with a time of 1:44.21. The previous Australian record of 1:44.30 was set by

Ralph Doubell Ralph Douglas Doubell AM (born 11 February 1945) is an Australian former athlete, and gold medallist at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Athletic career Doubell was born in Melbourne, was educated at Melbourne High School and graduated from the Univ ...

in winning the gold medal at altitude at the

and equalled in 2014 by Alexander Rowe in Monaco. Deng's record also broke New Zealander

Peter Snell Sir Peter George Snell (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964. Snel ...

's Oceania record of 1:44.30 that had been set in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

in 1962. At the end of the 2018 season, Deng had run four times under 1:45 in the year, the most ever by an Australian. Following the political controversy surrounding purported "African crime gangs" in Melbourne, Deng was cited by the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

as "a track star of boundless potential" and "proof positive of what immigrants can offer to their adopted country when given the opportunity."

Return to prominence

In 2023, Deng recaptured the 800 m national record (which had been progressively improved by his training partner Peter Bol in 2021 and 2022) with a new personal best of 1:43.99 in Lyon, France.

References

External links

*
Joseph Deng
at

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registere ...

*
Joseph Deng
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deng, Joseph 1998 births Living people Australian male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Australian people of South Sudanese descent Sportspeople of South Sudanese descent South Sudanese refugees Sudanese refugees People from Rift Valley Province People educated at Ipswich Grammar School