Ryan Gregory Gregson (born 26 April 1990) is an Australian

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 ...

. He formerly held the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

record for the men's

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

now held by

Stewart McSweyn Stewart "Stewie" McSweyn (born 1 June 1995) is an Australian long-distance runner. He was a finalist in the men's 1500 metres in the Tokyo Olympics, and has also been a World Championships and Commonwealth Games finalist in the 3000 metres ste ...

Personal life

Gregson studied carpentry at

TAFE NSW TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory bod ...

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

and has a degree in business and marketing from the

Swinburne University of Technology The Swinburne University of Technology (or simply Swinburne) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the Eastern Suburbs Technical College established in 1908, renamed Swinburne ...

. As a teenager he competed nationally in

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

. His is married to Olympic runner Genevieve Gregson (née LaCaze) and his cousin

Casey Sablowski Casey Sablowski (née Eastham; born 19 March 1989, in Shellharbour) is an Australian women's field hockey player. Sablowski plays as a midfielder. She made her debut for the Australia women's national hockey team, commonly referred to as the ...

is an Olympic field hockey player.

Running career

Youth

Gregson finished 5th in the boys' 1500 metres at the 2007 World Youth Championships in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

. Later that year, he set new Australian

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

records over 1500 metres, 3000 metres and 5000 metres, his 3000m clocking of 8:01.26 also eclipsing

Craig Mottram Craig Mottram (born 18 June 1980) is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 metre event. Early years Mottram was born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria. He attended Geelong Grammar School. Care ...

's Australian

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

record. At the 2008 World Junior Championships in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

he again finished 5th over 1500 metres and also participated in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

. In 2009, his last year as a junior, he set new Australian junior records over both 3000 and 1500 metres, with times of 7:57.45 and 3:37.24 respectively.

2009–present

Gregson finished 4th in the 1500 metres at the

2009 Summer Universiade The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Provin ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, missing out on medaling by only 0.22 seconds. Gregson also qualified for the 2009 World Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where he again competed in the 1500 metres and was eliminated in the heats. He captured his first national senior title at the 2010 Australian Championships in Athletics, out-sprinting World Championships semi-finalist

Jeff Riseley Jeffrey "Jeff" Riseley (born 11 November 1986 in Dandenong) is an Australian middle-distance athlete. Riseley competed in the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Early years Riseley was seven when he began to participate in athletics. ...

to win the 1500 metres. Gregson's first appearance in

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

's brand-new

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

was at

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and ...

on 3 July, where he won the second-tier International Mile. Gregson next appeared in a Diamond League race on 24 July, in the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events. Herculis is now part of the Diamond League. Editions World records Over the course of its histo ...

meet at Fontvieille,

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. He improved his personal best over 1500 metres by more than four seconds to 3:31.06 and finished 5th, beating among others former

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

medalist

Bernard Lagat Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American former Middle-distance running, middle and long-distance running, long-distance runner. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his List of eligibility transfers in at ...

and breaking

Simon Doyle Simon Patrick Doyle (born 1966-11-09 in Queensland) is a former Australian 1500 m runner who came fourth in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland and twelfth in the World Championships' final in Tokyo. In 1990, Doyle won three Grand Prix meeti ...

's 19-year-old Australian and Oceanian record. He missed the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

in October due to a stress fracture to his foot. He did not progress past the first round at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, and finished in 9th at the

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

. Gregson was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Olympic 1500 m event in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

,What You Missed From Overnight
dailytelegraph.com.au while at the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

he placed ninth in the final. Gregson was the first Australian man in a 1500 meters final in 40 years.

References

External links

*
Ryan Gregson's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregson, Ryan 1990 births Living people Australian male middle-distance runners Sportspeople from Wollongong Athletes from New South Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia People educated at Shenton College World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Australian sportsmen