| ||
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Representing Great Britain | ||
Men’s athletics | ||
World Championships | ||
2007 Osaka | 4x100 m relay | |
World Youth Championships | ||
2003 Sherbrooke | 100 m | |
European Indoor Championships | ||
2007 Birmingham | 60 m |
Dr Craig Keith Pickering (born 16 October 1986, in Crawley, West Sussex) is an English retired sprinter and bobsleigher. As a sprinter, he was based at the Marshall Milton Keynes Athletics Club; however, he also ran for the University of Bath and Newham and Essex Beagles. Following his retirement from professional sport, he became an academic researcher and gained a professional doctorate in sports performance from the University of Central Lancashire. He relocated to Australia in 2015 and currently works as director of performance sustainability at Athletics Australia.
Pickering was born in Crawley, West Sussex to parents probation officer Linda Pickering and accountant David Pickering. He has two younger siblings Luke Pickering and Lauren Pickering. Pickering is a former student of the Royal Latin School and got pointed in the sprinting direction by his P.E teacher Adam Izzard. [1]
Pickering married medical doctor Susan Roberts on 7 June 2016. They currently reside in Gold Coast, Australia. On 11 March 2021, Pickering’s wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Isla.
Pickering had success as a youth athlete, winning the bronze medal in the 100m at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics. He first came into the public eye in June 2005, when he beat Darren Campbell in the 100 m at a meet in Bedford. During 2007, he has found success on the indoor circuit, winning the 60m event at the European Indoor Trials and UK Championships in Sheffield in early February, following this with a second-place finish in the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham in the same event, behind his Bath team-mate Jason Gardener. His indoor form prompted The Scotsman to hint in January 2007 that Pickering could be a gold-medal prospect for the London Olympics.
More recently, he won the silver medal, again in the 60 m event, at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham. He is currently regarded as a hot contender for the British number one spot, having soundly beaten Mark Lewis-Francis among others at the Glasgow Norwich Union Grand Prix held on 3 June 2007. Despite dismal rainy conditions, Pickering equalled his personal best of 10.22 sec.
On 23 June 2007 he achieved a new personal best of 10.15 sec to win the men's 100 m at the 2007 European Cup in Munich. He also participated to the British Relay 4x100 win, with 38.30 (World Leading Time of 2007).
Pickering soon followed this up with a new personal best (10.14) and a silver medal at the 2007 European Under 23 Championships (Debrecen, Hungary), behind compatriot Simeon Williamson.
At the 2007 UK Championships and World Trials, Pickering finished second (by 0.01) behind Marlon Devonish, and was then selected to compete at the 2007 World Championships, in the 100 m. He also was part of the 4 × 100 m relay team which won the bronze medal.
He opened his 2008 season with a win at the Norwich Union international match in the 60 m, securing a win for Great Britain, in the international match.
Pickering was GBs solo qualifier to the 100m final at the 2008 Aviva London Grand Prix, Crystal Palace, finishing 8th.
3 August 2008 Craig and Simeon were featured in a BBC documentary called Sprint along with other 100m hopefuls Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Wade Bennett-Jackson.
In the Beijing Olympics of 2008 Pickering started his run too early when running the last leg of Great Britain's 4 × 100 m relay team. As a result, the baton was not passed properly and the team were disqualified. Pickering took full responsibility. [2]
Pickering missed the London 2012 Olympics after back surgery and lost his UK Athletics funding in October of the same year.
Following this it was announced on 7 December 2012 that Pickering would join the GB Bobsleigh team, with the aim of making the 2014 Winter Olympics. [3] He finished 19th, with pilot John Jackson, on his World Cup debut in the two-man bobsleigh, earning selection to the GB Bobsleigh World Championship squad. [4] However Pickering was forced to withdraw from the British bobsleigh squad for the Sochi Olympics due to a back injury. [5]
European Indoor Championships, 60m – Silver (2007)
European U23 Championships, 100m – Silver (2007)
European Cup, 100m – Gold (2007)
World Championships, 4 × 100 m – Bronze (2007)
World Championships, 100m – 11th (2007)
AAAs Under-23 Championships, 100m – Gold (2006)
European Junior Championships, 100m – Gold (2005)
World Junior Championships, 100m – Bronze (2003) [6]
Event | Best | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
60 metres | 6.55 s | Glasgow, Scotland | 27 January 2007 |
100 metres | 10.14 s | Debrecen, Hungary | 13 Jul 2007 |
100 metres | 10.08 s (wind-aided +2.1 m/s) | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 17 June 2009 |
200 metres | 20.89 s | Loughborough, England | 23 May 2010 |
Jason Carl Gardener, is a retired British sprint athlete. A fast starter from the blocks, he won an Olympic gold medal leading off Great Britain in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2004 Olympic Games, and is also the 2004 World Indoor Champion, and a four-time European Indoor champion, at 60 metres.
Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis, MBE is a retired British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialised in the 100 metres and was an accomplished regular of GB 4 x 100m relay. 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 gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Individually, Lewis-Francis has won the silver medal in the 100 m at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and silver medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Men's 100m final and numerous indoor medals.
Allyn Condon is an English former sprinter and bobsleigher. At the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010 he became the seventh person to have competed for Great Britain in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games having already competed in the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Simeon Oscar Williamson is an English bobsledder and former track and field sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. Williamson, a London native, is the second cousin to 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist British high jumper Germaine Mason. He is coached by Lloyd Cowan, and his athletics club is Highgate Harriers. He is a former British 100 metres champion.
Christopher Clarke is an English elite athlete sprinter who has often represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland. At club level he represents Marshall Milton Keynes AC and is also higher claim to Newham and Essex Beagles A.C.
Richard Thomas Buck is a former British sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres event. He is from York, and trains in Loughborough. Buck's current club is City of York A.C.. Previously, he had an 18-month spell at Scarborough A.C. He has been trained by his grandfather, Geoff Barraclough, and is now coached by Nick Dakin.
Montell Marcelle Douglas is a British multi-sports Olympian. Originally a sprinter and former British record holder for the 100 metres at 11.05 seconds, she competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Taking up bobsleigh in 2016 and becoming part of the Great Britain two-woman bobsleigh team the following year, she competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She is one of the two athletes, the other being Jaqueline Mourão, who participated in both of the Olympic Games hosted by Beijing. Outside of competing, she went on to appear as "Fire" in the 2024 BBC One reboot of Gladiators, and was subsequently a contestant on the twenty-second series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Tyrone Damien Edgar is a sprinter from Great Britain who specializes in the 100 metres.
Marcus Adam is an English retired sportsperson, who represented Great Britain as both a sprinter and a bobsledder.
James Dasaolu is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the 100 metres. He was the 2014 European champion over the distance.
Richard Kilty is a British sprinter who competes both Indoor and Outdoor across all the sprint events including 60 metres, 100 metres, 150 metres, and 200 metres. An exceptional starter, and considered a specialist in both 60 metres and relays, he is a former World and double European Champion indoors at 60 metres, and also a silver medalist in the World Athletics Championships, as well as a European and Commonwealth champion in the 4 x 100 metre relay for Great Britain and England respectively. Kilty is one of the few British athletes to have won medals at every major championships, indoors and out, including the World Relays.
Zharnel Hughes is an Anguilla-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for Great Britain in the Olympic Games, World Athletics and European Athletics events, and for England at the Commonwealth Games, since 2015. A double Commonwealth Games, double European Championships gold medalist as part of the 4 x 100 metres relay, Hughes has twice been European champion individually; over 100 metres in 2018, and 200 metres in 2022. In 2023, he broke both British sprint records, before winning his first global individual medal, a bronze in the 100 metres at the 2023 World championships.
Joel Fearon is a British sprinter and bobsledder. He represents the Birchfield Harriers and he is recognisable in the National Trials for wearing a black vest and lycra shorts. His coach is Michael Khmel, who also coached British Sprinter Craig Pickering. His personal best for the 100m, 9.96 seconds, places him 6th on the UK all-time list.
Geraldina Rachel Asher-Smith is a British sprinter internationally active since 2011. In 2019 she was the first British woman to win a World title in a sprint event.
Bruce Tasker is a British former bobsledder and track athlete. He qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the 4-man discipline.
Jazmin Sawyers is a British track and field athlete and sports presenter who competes in the long jump, representing Great Britain and England. In 2023, she won her first major senior title at the 2023 European Indoor Championships.
Nethaneel Joseph Mitchell-Blake is a British sprinter who specialises in the 200 metres and the 4 x 100 metre relay. He was the 2013 European Junior Champion and his personal best of 19.95 seconds ranks him as the second-fastest in Britain of all-time in the individual event. He is only the second Briton, after Adam Gemili to break both 10 seconds for 100 metres and 20 seconds for 200 metres.
Daryll Saskia Neita is a British sprinter. She won a silver medal in the 200 metres at the 2024 European Championships along with bronze in the 100 metres at the 2022 European Championships, 2022 Commonwealth Games and in the 60 metres at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. She has also won several medals as part of Great Britain 4 × 100 m relay teams, including an Olympic silver medal in 2024 and bronze medals in 2016 and 2021, World Championships silver medals in 2017 and 2019 and European gold in 2018.
Mica Moore is a British women's sprinter and bobsleigher. She competed for Wales in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and competed in the 2-women bobsleigh event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Jeremiah Azu is a Welsh sprinter. In 2024 he became the first Welshman to run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds in wind-legal conditions.