Roger Black
From Free net encyclopedia
Roger Anthony Black MBE (born March 31, 1966) is a former Olympic athlete and now works as a television presenter and motivational speaker.
Born in Portsmouth, England, he attended Portsmouth Grammar School. Roger has a collection of fifteen medals from major senior athletics competitions to add to his two European junior championship gold medals.
He set the national 400 metre record of 44.37 seconds on July 3, 1996 in Lausanne, Switzerland but that was subsequently broken a year later by Iwan Thomas who shaved 0.01s from Roger's time. Black was also part of the British 4*400 relay team which upset the heavy favourites USA to win the gold medal in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo.
His greatest achievement in track and field undoubtedly was in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when in the final of the 400m he finished in second place behind Michael Johnson, winning the silver medal in the process. However, partly due to injuries, he never rediscovered this form, and subsequently retired from the sport only two years later in 1998, after winning another silver medal in the 1997 World Championships 4*400 relay.
In 1995 Southampton University gave Black an honorary degree and he was also rewarded by Queen Elizabeth II with an MBE.
Black has worked regularly for the BBC on programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Grandstand. In 2004, he was one of the celebrities that took part in the pro-am dancing contest Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One.
Achievements
- 1985
- 1986
- European Championships - Stuttgart, Germany
- 400 m. gold medal - 44.59 sec.
- 4 x 400 m. relay - 2:59.84
- Commonwealth Games - Edinburgh, Scotland
- 400 m. gold medal - 45.57 sec.
- 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 3:07.19
- European Championships - Stuttgart, Germany
- 1987
- World Championships - Rome, Italy
- 400 m. silver medal - 44.62 sec.
- World Championships - Rome, Italy
- 1990
- European Championships - Split, Yugoslavia
- 400 m. gold medal - 45.08 sec.
- 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:58.22
- European Championships - Split, Yugoslavia
- 1991
- World Championships - Tokyo, Japan
- 400 m. silver medal - 44.62 sec.
- 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:57.53
- World Championships - Tokyo, Japan
- 1992
- Summer Olympics - Barcelona, Spain
- 4 x 400 m. relay - 2:59.73
- Summer Olympics - Barcelona, Spain
- 1994
- European Championships - Helsinki, Finland
- 400 m. silver medal - 45.2 sec.
- 4 x 400 m. relay gold medal - 2:59.13
- European Championships - Helsinki, Finland
- 1996
- Summer Olympics - Atlanta, USA
- 400 m. silver medal - 44.41 sec.
- 4 x 400 m. relay silver medal - 2:56.60
- Summer Olympics - Atlanta, USA
- 1997
- World Championships - Athens, Greece
- 4 x 400 m. relay silver medal - 2:56.65
- World Championships - Athens, Greece
External links
Categories: 1966 births | Living people | English athletes | British sprinters | British television presenters | Natives of Hampshire | British sports broadcasters | Members of the Order of the British Empire | Olympic competitors for Great Britain | Athletes at the 1992 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 1996 Summer Olympics