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Robert Denmark

British runner (born 1968)

Robert Neil Denmark (born 23 November 1968) is a British former middle- and long-distance runner who won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1994 European Championships, and a bronze medal in the 3000 metres at the 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships. A two-time Olympian, he finished seventh in the 5000 metres final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

01Career

Born in Billericay, Denmark began his international career by winning a bronze medal in the 3000 metres at the 1991 World Indoor Championships. A year later, he achieved his lifetime best in the 5000m with 13:10.24 at the Rome Grand Prix on 9 June, a time that still ranks him sixth on the UK all-time list (as of 2017). Two months later at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he finished seventh in the 5000 metres final. He also finished ninth in the 5000m finals at the 1991 and 1993 World Championships. In 1994, he won a silver medal in the 5000m at the European Championships behind Olympic champion Dieter Baumann, before going on to win the 5000m title at the Commonwealth Games a month later.

Denmark went on to compete at three more World Championships (1995-99), and in the 10,000m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, without reaching the finals. He concluded his international career by competing at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

He was twice the British 5000 metres champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1995 AAA Championships and the 1999 AAA Championships. He was also three times British 10,000 metres champion winning the AAAs in 1994, 1996 and 2002.

Denmark attended Furtherwick Park School, on Canvey Island, and represented Basildon Athletic Club. He is still involved with athletics as a coach, coaching Guy Learmonth in 2016.

02International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing the  Great Britain /  England
1991 World Indoor Championships Seville, Spain 3rd 3000 m 7:43.90
World Championships Tokyo, Japan 9th 5000 m 13:36.24
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 7th 5000 m 13:27.76
1993 World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 9th 5000 m 13:27.09
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 2nd 5000 m 13:37.50
Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada 1st 5000 m 13:23.00
World Cup London, United Kingdom 3rd 10,000 m 28:20.65
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 24th (heats) 5000 m 13:37.14
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 26th (heats) 5000 m 13:58.08
1999 World Championships Seville, Spain 19th (heats) 5000 m 13:41.28
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 28th (heats) 10,000 m 28:43.74
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 12th 10,000 m 29:09.59

03Personal bests

  • 1500 m, 3:37.99 (1995)
  • Mile, 3:55.38 (1990)
  • 3000 m, 7:39.55 (1993)
  • 5000 m, 13:10.24 (1992)
  • 10,000 m, 28:03.31 (2000)
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Robert Denmark, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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