Marlon Ronald Devonish, (born 1 June 1976) is an English former sprinter who competed 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 ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. A prodigious relay runner with particular strength as a 'bend' runner, Devonish ran the third leg for the Great Britain quartet which won the 4 × 100 metres at the 2004 Olympic Games, and won four World Championship medals in the same event in 1999, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Early life

Devonish attended Caludon Castle School in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, where his athletic talent was first discovered by his P.E. teacher Timothy Coleman who took him to Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club.

Career

He is a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club and was coached by Tony Lester. Early in his career he was successful at both 100 and 200-metre distances, winning English Schools and European Junior titles at both, but in later years he concentrated mostly on the longer distance. He was also a regular member of both the British and, 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 ...

, English 4 × 100-metre sprint relay teams, to some considerable success. He is a current Commonwealth Games record holder in the relay event. The most notable achievement of his career came at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens. There Devonish, along with Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell and Mark Lewis-Francis, won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m. relay, where the quartet defeated the pre-race favourites, United States team, by just 0.01 seconds, in a season's best of 38.07. At the British Championships (and team trials for the 2006 European Championships) in July 2006, Devonish became the first man since

Linford Christie Linford Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former Sprint (running), sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes ...

in 1988 to win both the 100 m and 200 m races at the event. At the championship finals, he took the bronze medal in the 200 m. Devonish retained his 100 m title at the British Championships the following year. For the 2007 season Devonish improved his performance in the 100 m with a new personal best and competed in this event at the 2007 World Championships in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

rather than the 200 m which he had previously specialised in. Devonish finished 6th in the 100 m final. Devonish represented

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association (B ...

in Beijing. He competed at the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

together with Simeon Williamson, Tyrone Edgar and Craig Pickering. In their qualification heat they were disqualified and eliminated. He also took part in the

individual, finishing first with a time of 20.49 seconds in his first round heat. With 20.43 seconds in his second round he only placed fourth in his heat, but his time was among the four best losing times and enough to qualify for the semi-finals. There he came to 20.57 seconds and the seventh time in his race, which was not enough for the final. He competed at the 2009 Manchester City Games, finishing second in the 150 metres final in 15.07 seconds. He was beaten by

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

who ran a world best-beating time. On 22 August 2009, Devonish was a member of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland men's 4 × 100 m relay team that took bronze at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin with a season's best of 38.02.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Harry Leslie Aikines-Aryeetey (born 29 August 1988) is an English former Commonwealth sprinter and television personality, known for appearing as "Nitro" in the BBC sports endurance competition series '' Gladiators''. He has also taken part in ...

, Simeon Williamson and Tyrone Edgar ran the other legs.

Post-athletics

On 16 July 2013, Devonish was brought in as sprint coach for

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

Kingsholm Stadium Kingsholm Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Kingsholm area of Gloucester, England, and is the home stadium of Gloucester Rugby. The stadium has a capacity of 16,115. It is sometimes nicknamed 'Castle Grim', after the estate where ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. On 8 January 2018, Devonish started working for the British International School Shanghai located in Puxi,

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

as their elite athlete performance coach in residence.

International competition record

¹Representing Europe
²Did not finish in the final

Personal bests

References

External links

*
'Marlon hails sprint revival' – BBC.co.uk, 29 August 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devonish, Marlon 1976 births Living people English male sprinters British male sprinters Olympic male sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics English Olympic competitors Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships winners IAAF Continental Cup winners European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Members of the Order of the British Empire Black British sportsmen English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Goodwill Games gold medalists in athletics Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes from Coventry