Steven Gardiner

Steven Gardiner (born 12 September 1995) is a Bahamian track and field sprinter competing in the 400 metres and 200 metres. He won the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships and became the world champion at the 2019 World Championships in the 400 m. He has personal bests of 43.48 s in the 400 m and 19.75 s in the 200 m, both national records. He is the only Bahamian, and the first Caribbean athlete, to run both sub-44 s in the 400 m and sub-20 s in the 200 m.

For the English bishop, see Stephen Gardiner.
Steven Gardiner
Gardiner at the 2019 Worlds.
Personal information
NationalityBahamian
Born (1995-09-12) 12 September 1995
Abaco, Bahamas
Height193 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight94 kg (207 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryBahamas
SportTrack and field
Event(s)Sprints
Coached byGary Evans
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
Medal record
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro4×400 m relay
World Championships
2019 Doha400 m
2017 London400 m
World Relays
2017 Nassau4×400 m relay mixed
2015 Nassau4×400 m relay

Early life

Gardiner was born in Murphy Town, Central Abaco in the Bahamas.[2] During his teenage years Gardiner was a competitive volleyball player, but also ran track and field. Gardiner wanted to transition to track in field in the shorter sprints, but his high school coach said he was too tall, so he became a 400 m runner.[3]

Career

Gardiner competed in the sport in his teenage years and ran in the 400 m at the national championships in 2013. He entered three events at the 2014 CARIFTA Games: he only managed fourth in the individual 200 metres but claimed a silver in the 4 × 100 metres relay and a bronze in the 4 × 400 metres relay.[4] He marked himself as one of Bahamas top young athletes with a win at the Bahamian junior championships in June that year.[5] An appearance at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics resulted in a semi-final run in the 200 m and a sixth-place finish in the 4 × 400 m.[6]

His first senior medal came at the 2015 IAAF World Relays, held on home turf, where he gave American competitor Jeremy Wariner a close run in the 4 × 400 m, helping the Bahamas to the silver medal alongside Ramon Miller, Michael Mathieu and Chris Brown.[7] He began to focus on the 400 m in the 2015 season and this proved a successful transition. He rapidly improved to become the youngest Bahamian ever, at 19 years old, to run the distance under 45 seconds, and moved up to fourth on the Bahamian all-time lists with a best of 44.64 seconds. He set the time at the Bislett Games, which brought him victory on his debut on the IAAF Diamond League circuit, finishing ahead of Matthew Hudson-Smith and Pavel Maslák.[8][9]

Statistics

All information from IAAF profile.[10]

Personal bests
Event Time Competition Venue Date Notes
200 m19.75Hurricane Alumni InvitationalCoral Gables, Florida7 April 2018+0.3 m/s wind, NR
400 m43.48World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar4 October 2019NR
4×400 m relay2:58.49Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil20 August 2016

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing the  Bahamas
2014 CARIFTA Games (U20) Fort-de-France, Martinique 4th 200 m 20.87 (+1.3 m/s)
2nd 4×100 m relay 40.35
3rd 4×400 m relay 3:11.32
World Junior Championships Eugene, United States 12th (sf) 200 m 20.89 (+1.8 m/s)
6th 4×400 m relay 3:08.08
2015 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 2nd 4×400 m relay 2:58.91
World Championships Beijing, China 16th (sf) 400 m 44.98
DQ 4×400 m relay
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 11th (sf) 400 m 44.72
3rd 4×400 m relay 2:58.49
2017 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 9th (sf) 4×400 m relay 3:05.37
1st 4×400 m relay mixed 3:14.42
World Championships London, United Kingdom 2nd 400 m 44.41
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 1st 400 m 43.48 NR

400 metres

References
  1. "Steven GARDINER". olympicchannel.com. Olympic Channel Services. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. Stubbs, Brent (20 April 2015). Steven Gardiner Clocks Personal Best In 400m To Qualify For Iaaf Worlds. Tribune 242. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  3. "Getting to Know Steven Gardiner." Youtube, IAAF Diamond League, 11 May 2018, Getting to know Steven Gardiner.
  4. Steven Gardiner. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  5. Moss, Cheroyln (2 July 2014). Steven Gardiner – From Junior to Pro. Bahamas Athletics. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  6. Steven Gardiner Honours. IAAF. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  7. Minshull, Phil (4 May 2015). Men's 4x400m – IAAF/BTC World Relays, Bahamas 2015. IAAF. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  8. Stubbs, Brent (12 June 2015). Gardiner 'Boy Wonder'. Tribune 242. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  9. Rowbottom, Mike (11 June 2015). Zhang upsets the high jump favourites in Oslo – IAAF Diamond League. IAAF. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  10. "STEVEN GARDINER ATHLETE PROFILE". IAAF. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
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