John Regis (athlete)

John Regis

Regis in 2012
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Silver 1988 Seoul 4×100 m relay
Bronze 1992 Barcelona 4×400 m relay
World Championships
Gold 1991 Tokyo 4×400 m relay
Silver 1993 Stuttgart 200 m
Silver 1993 Stuttgart 4×100 m relay
Bronze 1987 Rome 200 m
Bronze 1991 Tokyo 4×100 m relay
IAAF World Indoor Championships
Gold 1989 Budapest 200 m
European Championships
Gold 1990 Split 200 m
Gold 1990 Split 4×400 m relay
Silver 1990 Split 4×100 m relay
Bronze 1990 Split 100 m
European Indoor Championships
Silver 1989 The Hague 200 m
Bronze 1987 Lieven 200 m
European Juniors
Gold 1985 Cotbuss 4 x 100 m relay
Bronze 1985 Cotbuss 100 m
Competitor for  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold 1990 Auckland 4×100 m relay
Silver 1990 Auckland 200 m
Silver 1994 Victoria, B.C. 200 m
Bronze 1998 Kuaka Lumper 200 m

John Paul Lyndon Regis, MBE (born 13 October 1966, Lewisham, London) is a retired English sprinter. During his career, he won gold medals in the 200 metres at the 1989 World Indoor Championships and the 1990 European Championships, and a silver medal in the distance at the 1993 World Championships.

He was a member of the British teams which won the gold medal in the 4×400 metres relay at the 1991 World Championships, and the silver medal in the 4×100 metres relay at the 1988 Olympic Games. Regis is still the British 200 metres record-holder, which he set in 1994.

Career

Regis's most significant successes in individual events came when competing in the 200 metres. He was the first British athlete to run under 20 seconds for the distance, and still holds the UK record for the event. He was an indoor world champion and an outdoor World Championship runner-up at the distance, and also finished sixth in the event at the 1992 Olympic Games.

Regis also achieved considerable success running in relay races, winning major international medals in both the 4 x 100 metres relay and the 4 x 400 metres relay. Most notably, he ran the third leg for the British 4 x 400 m relay team at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, helping them defeat the heavily-favoured team from the United States and claim the gold medal. He was also a part of the British 4 x 400 m team in 1990 which set a European Championship record for the event. On 3 March 1991, Regis was a member of the British team which set the world indoor record for the rarely contested 4 x 200 metres with a time of 1:22.11, which has not yet been bettered.

Personal life

Growing up Regis competed for Lewisham at the London Youth Games.[1] John Regis was awarded an MBE for his services to athletics. In 1989, he opened an all-weather running track at Wellesley Recreation Ground (known as "the Well") in Great Yarmouth.

In 1995, Respect, a 30-minute documentary was made about Regis, produced and directed by Pogus Caesar and broadcast on Carlton TV in London. In 1996, John Regis featured on an episode of GamesMaster on channel 4, winning the 'We're athletic, we like lycra' challenge on the Sega Saturn game Athlete Kings. Since his retirement from athletics in 1999, Regis has worked in the media and sports management. In 2012 John Regis was inducted into the Class of 2012 London Youth Games Hall of Fame.

Regis has two daughters by his wife Jennifer Stoute. He is a cousin of the football players Cyrille Regis and Dave Regis and the uncle of former footballer Jason Roberts.

John Regis's 15 year-old nephew, Adam Regis, was stabbed to death on Saturday 17 March 2007 in Plaistow, Newham, east London. The killers were described in media reports as five black youths, who fled in a car. He had been following in his uncle's footsteps as an athlete.[2][3]

Personal bests

International competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1987 World Championships Rome, Italy 3rd 200 m
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 2nd 4×100 m relay
1989 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st 200 metres
1990 European Championships Split, Yugoslavia 3rd 100 metres
1st 200 metres
2nd 4x100 m relay
1st 4x400 m relay 2:58.22 CR
Commonwealth Games Auckland, New Zealand 2nd 200 metres
1st 4×100 m relay
1991 World Championships Tokyo, Japan 1st 4×400 m relay
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 3rd 4×400 m relay
1993 World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 2nd 200 m
1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada 2nd 200 metres
1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd 200 metres

References

  1. ↑ http://www.londonyouthgames.org/page.asp?section=23&sectionTitle=Hall+of+Fame Hall of Fame 2013-02-19
  2. ↑ http://adam-regis.gonetoosoon.org/ Memorial to Adam Regis
  3. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-443190/Four-new-arrests-Adam-Regis-murder-hunt.html Daily Mail coverage of murder of Adam Regis]

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Frankie Fredericks		 Men's 200 m Best Year Performance
1994 		Succeeded by
Michael Johnson