Darren Campbell

Darren Andrew Campbell, (born 12 September 1973) is a British former sprint athlete.

His first national success in athletics was a gold medal at the English Schools Championships in the 200 m. Campbell then won the 100 m and 200 m gold medals at the 1991 European Junior Championships held in Thessaloniki, Greece, as well as a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m. A year later, he won silver medals at the 1992 World Junior Championships, in the sprint double, and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay.

He was beaten both times by Ato Boldon, who became the first athlete to win a double at the championships.

His senior international debut came at the Stuttgart World Championships in 1993, as part of the 4 × 100 m squad.

However, as a result of injuries, he left athletics at the age of 21 to launch a career in football with trials for Cwmbran Town, Plymouth Argyle, Yorkley, Weymouth, UWIC Inter Cardiff and Newport County amongst others.

He spent two years away from athletics, playing professional football but returned in 1995, attending his first Olympics shortly afterwards.

Campbell returned to athletics in 1995, and ran the 100 m in 10.34sec that year.

The following year, he improved his 100 m time to 10.17sec, and represented Britain in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA.

Campbell only represented Britain in the 4 × 100 m relay, but the baton was dropped as it was passed on to him.

(Video evidence of the race)

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.

At the 1997 World Championships, Campbell won his first major senior medal – a bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay, and by this time was a regular feature in the British squad.

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.

Campbell's first senior gold medals came at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest.

Campbell won the 100 m individual event, setting his best time at the 100 m in the final – 10.13sec, and also winning gold in the 4 × 100 m relay.

At the Commonwealth Games that year, Campbell helped break the championship record for the 4 × 100 m relay.

However, he won no individual medals.

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).

The following year, in the 1999 World Championships, held in Seville, Campbell won the silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, but was eliminated from his individual event in the semi-finals.

In 2000, Campbell won the man of the match award in the European Cup following his performance in the 100 m. Campbell replaced Jason Gardener with 20 minutes notice, and won the race in a time of 10.09sec (wind-assisted).

He also ran in a leg in the winning 4 × 100 m relay team.

Campbell was again hit by injury in 2001, missing the majority of the year's competitions.

He had run 10.16sec for the 100 m and 20.41sec for the 200 m, and been named European Cup captain prior to the injury.

In the 100 m he won silver at the 2002 European Championships and was the 2003 World Championships bronze medallist.

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.

After returning from injury the following year, Campbell took bronze in the individual 100 m event and gold in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2002 European Championships.

His bronze was later upgraded to a silver after Dwain Chambers confessed to taking performance-enchancing drugs at this time.

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.

He now works with various Premier League football clubs, working with the players to improve their sprinting ability.

He also regularly visits schools to promote sport among children, on behalf of the Youth Sport Trust, and he also recently appeared as a VIP guest at Sheffield Hallam University's annual Sports Ball held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre.

Raised on the Racecourse Estate in Sale, Cheshire Campbell was a talented athlete and footballer in his youth.

During a debate on TalkSPORT on 14 August 2006, Campbell stated this period away from athletics had also been spurred on by attempts by certain individuals to draw him into a drugs programme.

At the Olympics in Sydney, Campbell placed 6th in the 100 m final, and took a surprise silver medal in the 200 m, as Campbell was mainly a 100 m runner, and had a previous best time of 20.49sec.

In the quarter-final, he took 0.29sec off this to reduce to 20.13sec, his fastest time at the distance in his career.

This was followed by performances of 20.23sec in the semi-final and 20.14sec in the final to finish second, Campbell's first senior medal at the distance.

The gold medal was won by controversial Greek sprinter Konstantinos Kenteris.

He was the sprint coach at Wasps Rugby Club for the 2015–16 season.

He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay.

Campbell was a promising junior athlete and won a number of medals at the World and European Junior Championships.