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Benjamin Richardson (sprinter)

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Benjamin Richardson
Richardson in 2024
Personal information
NationalitySouth African
Born (2003-12-19) 19 December 2003 (age 21)
Pretoria, South Africa
Height6 ft 3 in (1.90 m)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
EventSprint
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100m: 9.86 (La Chaux-de-Fonds, 2024)
200m 19.99 (La Chaux-de-Fonds, 2024)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  South Africa
African Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Douala 100 m
World U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Nairobi 4 × 100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2021 Nairobi 100 m
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Cali 100 m

Benjamin Richardson (born 19 December 2003) is a South African track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. He was born in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.[2]

Early life

[edit]

Richardson attended Nelspruit Primary School, TuksSport High School, and studied at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria.[3][4][5]

Career

[edit]

In 2021, he won the silver medal in the 100 metres at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.[6] At the same competition he won gold as part of the South African 4 × 100 m relay team. With Mihlali Xhotyeni, Sinesipho Dambile, Letlhogonolo Moleyane, the relay team broke the world U20 record, running 38.51 seconds.[7]

In April 2022, he lowered his personal best over 100 metres to 10.08, Gaborone.[5] In August 2022, he won the bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.[8]

In August 2023, he was the youngest member of the South African team selected for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.[9]

He ran as part of the South African 4x100m relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.[10] In June 2024, he won bronze in the 100 metres at the African Championships in Cameroon.[11]

He set a new 100m personal best of 9.86 seconds and a new 200m personal best of 19.99 seconds in La Chaux-de-Fonds in July 2024.[12] He was selected for the South African team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.[13]

Unfortunately, in the Paris 2024 200m heats, Richardson pulled his hamstring[14] and had to walk the race of the race, finishing over 30 seconds slower than his heatmates,[15] then withdraw from the repechage round[14] and the rest of the 2024 Olympics.[16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Benjamin Richardson". Eurosport. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Benjamin Richardson". World Athletics. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  3. ^ Manaleng, Palesa (20 August 2021). "SA'S BENJAMIN RICHARDSON SPRINTS TO SILVER AT U20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  4. ^ Baloyi, Charles (1 September 2021). "Richardson shifts focus to books after bagging two medals". Sowetanlive.co.za. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b "#TuksAthletics: Tuks sprinter Benjamin Richardson keeps on winning South African titles and gives credit to his coach, Paul Gorries | University of Pretoria". UP News. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Sprinter Benjamin Richardson Claims 2nd Medal WA U20 Champs". showme.co.za. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  7. ^ "'Individually we are all fast' – Benjamin Richardson, after SA Under-20s smash world relay record". iol.co.za. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  8. ^ Omogbeja, Omi (3 August 2023). "Cali22: Letsile Tebogo Jogs 9.91 World U20 Record On Way To 100m Gold".
  9. ^ Botton, Wesley (16 August 2023). "Teenage sprint sensation Benji Richardson targets World Champs medal". Citizen.co.za. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Men 4x100m Results - World Athletics Relays Championships 2024". Watch Athletics. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Brume sails to fourth title as Bass Bittaye and Moraa win at African Championships in Douala". World Athletics. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Femke Bol shatters 400m hurdles European record with 50.95 at Resisprint in La Chaux-de-Fonds". Watch Athletics. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  13. ^ "More SA athletes for Paris Olympics announced". SuperSport. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  14. ^ a b Abiola, Raphael (6 August 2024). "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Men's 200m - Round 1 - Heat 3/6 results" (PDF). Olympics. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  16. ^ Isaacson, David (7 August 2024). "Benjamin Richardson ruled out of Olympics in blow to 4x100m relay". The Sowetan. Retrieved 9 August 2024.


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