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Mark Rowland

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Mark Rowland
Personal information
Born (1963-03-07) 7 March 1963 (age 61)
Watersfield, West Sussex
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul 3000m Steeplechase
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1990 Split 3000 m steeplechase

Mark Robert Rowland (born 7 March 1963 in Watersfield, West Sussex, England) is a retired male distance-runner from the United Kingdom, who specialised in the 3000m steeplechase.[1]

Athletics career

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Rowland came third in the men's men's 3000 m Steeplechase at the 1988 Olympics behind the Kenyan competitors Julius Kariuki (gold) and Peter Koech (silver). His time was 8:07.96 minutes which remains a British record. Rowland became the eighth and, thus far, final British athlete to pick up a medal in the steeplechase event at the Olympics. His post-race interview at the track-side was famous for his quote:

I just kept telling myself to dig, dig, dig—and I did it! I've got a bloody medal![2]

Two years later, Rowland was beaten to the gold in a sprint finish in the same event at the European Championships in Split by the Italian athlete Francesco Panetta. He also represented England in the 5,000 metres event, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.[3][4][5]

Coaching career

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After retiring, he became a coach to many promising young British steeplechasers and was a steeplechase and middle-distance coach for UK Athletics. While coaching professionally in the United Kingdom, he coached Michael East to his 6th place finish in the 1500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2008, Rowland became head coach of the Oregon Track Club Elite team, where he coached a number of athletes to Olympic and World Championships medals and finalist positions, including British middle-distance runner Jemma Simpson, American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds and distance runner Lauren Fleshman, Botswana middle-distance runner Nijel Amos, Burundian middle-distance runner Francine Niyonsaba, and Kenyan distance runner Sally Kipyego, among others.[6] In 2022, Rowland left Oregon Track Club to become an endurance coach at Athletics Canada's west hub in Victoria, British Columbia.[7]

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Great Britain /  England
1987 European Indoor Championships Liévin, France 4th 3000 m 7:54.64
World Indoor Championships Indianapolis, United States 4th 3000 m 8:04.27
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 3rd 3000 m steeplechase 8:07.96
1990 Commonwealth Games Auckland, New Zealand 7th 5000 m 13:35.69
European Championships Split, Yugoslavia 2nd 3000 m steeplechase 8:13.27
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 4th 3000 m steeplechase 8:26.00

References

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  1. ^ "Athlete Profile". www.thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  2. ^ "WOW: The #RowlandTempo". 11 March 2015.
  3. ^ "1990 Athletes". Team England.
  4. ^ "England team in 1990". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  5. ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  6. ^ Laggner, Kyle (15 December 2008). "Former Olympian to coach Oregon Track Club Elite". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Prominent Endurance Coach Mark Rowland Joins Athletics Canada West Hub". athletics.ca. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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