Mark Richardson (athlete)
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 British
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| Born | 26 July 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Sprints | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Mark Ashton Richardson (born 26 July 1972 in Slough) is a British former athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.
He competed for Great Britain in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, United States in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the silver medal with his team mates Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch and Roger Black. This team set a UK record, 2:56.60, in the process.
At the 1997 World Championships in Athens, Richardson ran the anchor leg for Great Britain in the 4 × 400 m relay, winning the silver medal. His unofficial split time was 43.5. On 7 January 2010 it was announced that Great Britain's 1997 World Championship 4 × 400 m relay team are to be awarded the gold medal; they were beaten by a U.S. team that included Antonio Pettigrew, who admitted in 2008 to using performance-enhancing drugs.
Richardson received a two-year ban from the IAAF after he failed a drugs test which was taken on 25 October 1999. He was suspended in March 2000 and subsequently missed the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He tested positive for banned substance nandrolone, but claimed that he was unaware of taking the substance. Unlike fellow competitors Linford Christie, Gary Cadogan and Doug Walker, Richardson accepted the ban and chose not to pursue his case to arbitration. The IAAF did re-instate Richardson in June 2001, under their "exceptional circumstances" rule.UK Athletics also cleared Richardson (as they did with Christie, Cadogan and Walker) as they believed there was enough reasonable doubt over the intention to take a banned substance. The IAAF overrule such decisions because they hold athletes completely responsible for drug samples under a "strict liability rule"
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