Darren Campbell

Darren Campbell

Darren Campbell in 2009
Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	(1973-09-12) 12 September 1973 (age 43) Moss Side, Manchester, England
Height	6 ft 0.5 in (1.84 m)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Great Britain and  England Olympic Games 2004 Athens 4x100 m relay 2000 Sydney 200 m World Championships 1999 Sevilla 4x100 m relay 1997 Athens 4x100 m relay 2003 Paris 100 m European Championships 1998 Budapest 100 m 1998 Budapest 4x100 m relay 2006 Gothenburg 4x100 m relay 2002 Munich 100 m Commonwealth Games 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x100 m relay 2002 Manchester 4x100 m relay 2002 Manchester 200 m

Darren Andrew Campbell, MBE (born 12 September 1973) is a British former sprint athlete. He is currently the sprint coach at Cardiff City F.C. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay. Campbell is the European record holder in the relay event with 37.73 seconds.

Campbell was a promising junior athlete and won a number of medals at the World and European Junior Championships. He spent two years away from athletics, playing professional football but returned in 1995, attending his first Olympics shortly afterwards. He began to compete as part of the British 4 × 100 m relay team and between 1997 and 2000 he won two World Championship medals, a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, and set the European record in the event. Success also came in the individual events: he became the 1998 European Champion in the 100 m and won his first Olympic medal, a silver in the 200 m at the 2000 Sydney Games. In the 100 m he won silver at the 2002 European Championships and was the 2003 World Championships bronze medallist.

Campbell formed part of perhaps Britain's most successful relay team – they won in the European Cup in 1999 and 2000, at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and took the gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics (the first time a British team had done so since 1912). Campbell had also won a gold medal at the 2002 European Championships and a 2003 World Championship silver medal but had to return them when his running-mate, Dwain Chambers, tested positive for banned substances, sparking much animosity between the two. He won his last medal in 2006, again taking the relay gold at the European Championships, and he retired shortly afterwards. His personal bests of 10.04 s in the 100 m and 20.13 s in the 200 m—were not prodigiously quick by elite global standards, but over his career he earned an impressive reputation as a 'championship' runner, saving his best for finals and collecting significantly more medals than his times alone would indicate.