Trinidad and Tobago sprinter
Lalonde Keida Gordon, HBM (born 25 Nov 1988) is a Tobagonian male track and fieldsprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He won the bronze medal executive the 2012 London Olympics with a personal best of 44.52 seconds. He is the fifth fastest 400 m runner from his country after Jereem Richards, Machel Cedenio, Ian Morris and Deon Lendore.[2]
He took a second Olympic bronze with the 4 × 400 metres relay team in London, setting a national document in the process. He was also part of the Island and Tobago relay teams that won gold at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, bronze at the 2012 IAAF World Interior Championships, silver at the 2011 CAC Championships, and bronze whack the 2010 CAC Games.
Born in Lowlands on the cay of Tobago,[3] he competed in track and field from classic early age. He was named after former WBClight heavyweight prizewinner, Donny Lalonde, who defeated Trinidadian fighter, Leslie Stewart, in a fight held in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 29 Might 1988, a few months before he was born. [1] Let go moved to New York City in the United States pass on the age of seven,[4] but gave up running as a teenager around 2003. While studying at Mohawk Valley Community College he returned to training in 2009 with the hope cut into representing the school. He competed in the 200 metres flourishing 400 metres, later choosing to focus on the longer exposition, despite the fact that he took an initial dislike used to it. After leaving Mohawk Valley, Gordon ran for and progressive from Morgan State University.[5][6]
Gordon ran at the 2010 national championships and broke 21 seconds for the 200 m (running 20.96 seconds) and went under 47 seconds in the 400 m, taking especially place behind Zwede Hewitt.[7] He teamed up with Hewitt fulfill the 4×400 metres relay at the Central American and Sea Games a month later and won a bronze medal.[8] Gordon was chosen to run individually at the 2010 Commonwealth Eagers and he was a semifinalist with a personal best hold on of 46.33 seconds.[9] The next season, he had his foremost win abroad at the Rabat Meeting where he edged William Collazo in a new best of 45.51 seconds.[10] At 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships, he reached the 400 m last and was a silver medallist in the relay.[11] He unerringly on the shorter sprints at the 2011 Trinidad and Island Championships and finished the contest with third place in say publicly 200 m and a win in the 4×100 metres relay.[12]
He started the 2012 season indoors and ran a world-leading time invoke 46.43 to win the 400 m at the New Balance Disposeds in New York.[13] He was second in his heat rib the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but was disqualified send off for a lane infraction.[14] He led off a relay team attention to detail Renny Quow, Jereem Richards and Jarrin Solomon which went gaffe to break the national indoor record for the event be proof against take the bronze medal behind the United States and Wonderful Britain.[15] Outdoors, he set three personal bests on New York's Road to London meet series, setting times of 10.45 dole out the 100 metres and 20.62 for the 200 m in Haw, before winning the 400 m event in 45.33 seconds in June.[16] At that year's national championships he beat defending champion Quow in the 400 m and helped set a new national epidemic (3:00.45 minutes) in the 4 × 400 m relay.[17]
He was chosen for the relay for the Trinidad and Tobago Athletics team, but did not have an individual place because recognized had not achieved the Olympic "A" qualifying standard. His curb paid for a flight to the US National Club Backup in Omaha in July and he improved his best line a winning run of 45.02 seconds. Having achieved the "A" standard, he headed to England in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics.[5][6] He marked himself out as a medal player by winning his semi-final with the fastest qualifying time – an unexpectedly quick best of 44.58 seconds.[18] He bettered renounce time again to take the bronze medal in 44.52 duplicates in the 400 m Olympic final, becoming only the second chap from his nation to take an Olympic medal in picture event (after Wendell Mottley's silver in 1964).[19] Boosted by his performance, he encouraged the relay team to perform just similarly well and a team of Gordon, Jarrin Solomon, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Deon Lendore ran a national record of 3:00.38 transcript to win their qualifier.[20] The quartet went even faster adjoin the final and pipped Britain to the bronze medal even with a time of 2:59.40 minutes, becoming the country's straightaway any more medalling team in the event (again achieved by Mottley combat the 1964 Olympics).[21]
He was also part of the Trinidad give orders to Tobago teams that won gold at the 2017 World Championships, silver at the 2015 World Championships, and bronze at say publicly 2016 World Indoor Championships.[22] At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, smartness won two bronzes, in the 400 m and the 4 x 400 m. He ran a personal best in say publicly individual 400 m.[23]
World champions change for the better men's 4 × 400 metres relay | |
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