Marlon Ronald Devonish, MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

(born 1 June 1976) is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 sprint

Sprint (race)

Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...

 athlete.

He is a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers

Coventry Godiva Harriers

Coventry Godiva Harriers is an athletics club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England and was established in 1879. The club name refers to the notable Lady Godiva of Coventry and the sport of "hare and hounds" cross country running.- Current athletes :...

 athletics club and is coached by Tony Lester. Early in his career he was successful at both 100 and 200 metre distances, winning English Schools and European Junior titles at both, but in recent years he has concentrated mostly on the longer distance. He has also been a regular member of both the British and, at the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

, English 4 x 100 metre sprint relay teams, to some considerable success. He is a current Commonwealth Games record holder in the relay event.

The most notable achievement of his career to date came at the 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. There Devonish, along with Jason Gardener

Jason Gardener

Jason Carl Gardener is a retired British sprint athlete, and former World Indoor Champion. Gardener was educated at Beechen Cliff School and the City of Bath College, and went on to graduate from Bath Spa University.-Athletics career:Gardener started his career at the World Junior Championships in...

, Darren Campbell

Darren Campbell

Darren Andrew Campbell MBE is a former English sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay...

 and Mark Lewis-Francis

Mark Lewis-Francis

Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis is a British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialises in the 100 metres. A renowned junior, his greatest sporting achievement at senior level has been to anchor the Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4 x 100 metres relay team to a shock gold...

, won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 m. relay

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 x 100 metres relay

The men's 4×100 metres relay was one of 23 track events of the athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens. It was contested at the Athens Olympic Stadium, from August 27 and August 28, by a total of sixteen national teams comprising 64 athletes....

, where the quartet defeated the pre-race favourites, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 team, by just 0.01 seconds, in a season's best of 38.07.

At the British Championships (and team trials for the 2006 European Championships

2006 European Championships in Athletics

The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit"...

) in July 2006, Devonish became the first man since Linford Christie

Linford Christie

Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...

 in 1988 to win both the 100 m and 200 m races at the event. At the championship finals, he took the bronze medal in the 200 m.

Devonish retained his 100 m title at the British Championships

UK Athletics

UK Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials....

 the following year. For the 2007 season Devonish improved his performance in the 100 m with a new personal best and competed in this event at the 2007 World Championships

2007 World Championships in Athletics

The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...

 in Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

 rather than the 200 m which he had previously specialised in. Devonish finished 6th in the 100 m final.

Devonish represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association , and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. Britain is one of only five NOCs to have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since 1896...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

. He competed at the 4x100 metres relay together with Simeon Williamson

Simeon Williamson

Simeon Oscar Williamson is an English sprinter of Jamaican descent who specializes in the 100 metres. Williamson, a London native, is the second cousin of British high jumper Germaine Mason. His athletics club is Highgate Harriers...

, Tyrone Edgar

Tyrone Edgar

Tyrone Damien Edgar is a sprinter from Great Britain who specializes in the 100 metres.Edgar went to junior college in Kansas, USA in 2003 where he ran an impressive wind assisted 10.04 at the Junior College Championships...

 and Craig Pickering

Craig Pickering

Craig Keith Pickering is an English sprinter, currently based at the Marshall Milton Keynes Athletics Club; however, he also runs for the University of Bath and Newham and Essex Beagles. He is a former student of the Royal Latin School and got pointed in the sprinting direction by his PE teacher...

. In their qualification heat they were disqualified and eliminated. He also took part in the 200 metres

200 metres

A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...

 individual, finishing first with a time of 20.49 seconds in his first round heat. With 20.43 seconds in his second round he only placed fourth in his heat, but his time was among the four best losing times and enough to qualify for the semi finals. There he came to 20.57 seconds and the seventh time in his race, which was not enough for the final.

He competed at the 2009 Manchester City Games, finishing second in the 150 metres final in 15.07 seconds. He was beaten by Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt

The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...

 who ran a world best-beating time.

On 22 August 2009, Devonish was a member of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland men’s 4x100m relay team team that took bronze at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin

2009 World Championships in Athletics

The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

 with a season’s best of 38.02. Harry Aikines-Aryeetey

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey

Harry Leslie Aikines-Aryeetey is an English sprinter. In 2005 he was named as the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and the IAAF's Rising Star of the Year after becoming the first athlete to win gold medals at both 100 metres and 200 metres at the World Youth Championships.Aikines-Aryeetey...

, Simeon Williamson

Simeon Williamson

Simeon Oscar Williamson is an English sprinter of Jamaican descent who specializes in the 100 metres. Williamson, a London native, is the second cousin of British high jumper Germaine Mason. His athletics club is Highgate Harriers...

 and Tyrone Edgar

Tyrone Edgar

Tyrone Damien Edgar is a sprinter from Great Britain who specializes in the 100 metres.Edgar went to junior college in Kansas, USA in 2003 where he ran an impressive wind assisted 10.04 at the Junior College Championships...

 ran the other legs.

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Place
1995	European Junior Championships 1995 European Athletics Junior Championships The 1995 European Athletics Junior Championships was held in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary.-Men's results:-Women's results:-Medal table:-References:* - GBR Athletics* - GBR Athletics...	Nyiregyhaza Nyíregyháza - Tourist sights :Nyíregyháza also has several museums and exhibitions, showing the city's rich cultural heritage.* Collection of the International Medallion Art and Small Sculpture Creative Community of Nyíregyháza-Sóstó – periodic exhibitions of works of contemporary artists-Twin towns — Sister... , Hungary	100 m	1st
			200 m	1st
1997	European U23 Championships 1997 European Athletics U23 Championships The 1997 European Athletics U23 Championships is the 1997 version of the European Athletics U23 Championships. It was held in the Finnish city of Turku.-Men's Results:-Women's Results:-Medals table:-External links:*...	Turku, Finland	100 m	3rd
1998	Commonwealth Games 1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 XVI Commonwealth Games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 11 September to 21 September 1998 making it the first Asian country to act as host and the last Commonwealth Games for the 20th century. A record 70 nations supplied 3638 athletes...	Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million... , Malaysia	4 x 100 m relay	1st
1999	European Cup European Cup (athletics) The European Cup is a now defunct athletics competition, replaced by the European Team Championships from 2009 onwards. The Europa Cup saw most of the major nations of Europe compete. Originally known as the Bruno Zauli Cup, it first took place in Stuttgart and Kassel , Germany in 1965...	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... , France	4 x 100 m relay	1st
	World Championships 1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29....	Seville Seville Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level... , Spain	4 x 100 m relay	2nd
2002	Commonwealth Games 2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...	Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... , England	200 m	2nd
			4 x 100 m relay	1st
	European Championships	Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... , Germany	200 m	3rd
2003	World Indoor Championships IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics The International Association of Athletics Federations World Indoor Championships were inaugurated as the World Indoor Games in 1985 in Paris, France and were subsequently renamed in 1987 as they are known today.-History:...	Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... , England	200 m	1st
2004	Summer Olympics 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...	Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... , Greece	4 x 100 m relay	1st
2005	World Championships 2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... , Finland	4x100 m relay	3rd
2006	European Athletics Championships	Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden	200 m 2006 European Athletics Championships – Men's 200 metres The men's 200 metres at the 2006 European Athletics Championships were held at the Ullevi on August 9 and August 10.Obikwelu completed the sprinters' double, leading comfortably out of the last curve and continuing all the way to the finish. Wissman took silver in a time level with the national...	3rd
			4x100 m relay	1st
2007	World Championships 2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...	Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... , Japan	4x100 m relay	3rd

Personal bests

Distance	Time	Wind	Location	Date
100m	10.06 sec	+ 1.3 mps	Lausanne Lausanne Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...	10 July 2007
200m	20.19 sec	+ 1.4 mps	Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...	29 July 2002

External links

• 'Marlon hails sprint revival' - BBC.co.uk, 29 August 2004