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Athlete
List
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Abi Oyepitan
|
| Full Name: |
Abiodun
(Abi) Oyepitan |
| Sex: |
Female |
| Born: |
30 December
1979 (Westminster) |
| Lives: |
London |
| Height: |
1.65m |
| Event: |
100m,
200m |
| Coach: |
Tony Lester |
| Club: |
Shaftsbury
Barnet Harriers |
| University: |
Brunel
(Politics & Sociology) |
Personal Bests:
| Outdoor |
| 100m |
11.17 |
25 Jul 2004 |
Birmingham, GBR |
| 200m |
22.50 |
23 Aug 2004 |
Athens, GRE |
| Indoor |
| 60m |
7.27 |
24 Jan 2004 |
Glasgow, GBR |
| 100m |
|
|
|
| 200m |
|
|
|
1996
Abi won the AAA under-17
title at 100m and was 3rd in the English Schools Intermediate 100m, running
12.06 in both races.
1997
Abi ran 12.06 for 6th at
English Schools.
1998
Abi won the Southern
Juniors 100m in 11.63w and then ran 11.45w for 2nd in the AAA U20s (also 3rd at
200m), and won the English Schools
100m.
She sped to a splendid win
in 11.51w on her junior international debut.
She ran the lead-off leg on
the British sprint relay team that was 4th at the World Junior Championships.
1999
In 1999 she had best times
of 11.65 and 11.51w and represented Britain at the World Student Games and the
European Under-23 Championships.
2000
Struggling with injury
problems, Abi still managed a season's best of 11.52 and a win in the Under-23
International.
2001
Abi built up her
strength and, clear of injuries, topped
the British sprint rankings in 2001.
She ran a PB for 60m
indoors, with 7.40 for 4th at the AAAs.
Outdoors, she ran a PB 100m
of 11.48 to win the British Universities title and ran 11.20w to take the
Inter-Counties title and 11.17w at the AAA U23s.
Abi ran a 'legal' PB of
11.29 when 2nd in Glasgow and then took silver at 100m and gold at 4x100m at the
European U23s.
She ran the anchor leg for
the British 4x100m team at the World Championships and then produced a splendid
series of runs, 11.31, 11.47, 11.29 and 11.42 in taking the gold medal for 100m
at the World Student Games.
2002
In 2002 Abi reduced her best
for 60m to 7.32 in the semi-final, but was nearly a metre behind Joice Maduaka
in the final of the AAA Indoors in 7.41. She improved her 200m best to 23.52 at
Loughborough, and won the CAU 100m title and was second in the AAA 100m.
She was 7th in the 100m
(11.37) and anchored the England 4x100m team to bronze at the Commonwealth
Games.
She was also 6th at the
European Championships in 11.41, although fortunate to get away with what
appeared to be a flyer in her semi-final (season's best 11.33).
2003
Abi missed the indoor season
with a hamstring problem.
Outdoors, she won the
British Universities 100m and had a series of good results, notably a 100m/200m
double in Cork with 11.39w and 23.09, a 0.43 improvement on her best.
Abi
was second in the AAA 100m in 11.54 well behind Joice Maduaka's 11.31, but
turned the tables at 200m, winning in a pb 22.95 for her first senior national
title.
She was 6th at the British
Grand Prix in 11.38 and ran 200m in 23.30 (heat) and 23.42 (quarter-final) at
the World Championships.
2004
Abi started 2004 with a PB 7.27 in winning the 60m in the International in
Glasgow.
| 17 Jul |
|
Madrid, ESP |
200m |
22.69 |
-1.1 |
5th |
|
| 25 Jul |
|
Birmingham |
100m |
11.17 |
1.7 |
3rd |
|
| NU
London Grand Prix,
Crystal Palace
- Abiodun Oyepitan (Shaftesbury Barnet
Harriers) was sixth in 11.46 in the Women’s 100m (wind: -0.7), won by
Veronica Campbell (Jamaica) in 11.12. |
|
Athens Olympics 2004
Abi was the only British sprinter to reach an individual final at the Athens
Olympics.
| 20 Aug |
Olympic
Games |
Athens,
GRE |
100m |
11.23 |
-0.3 |
2nd ht |
|
| 21 Aug |
Olympic Games |
Athens, GRE |
100m |
11.18 |
0.1 |
5th semi |
|
| 23 Aug |
Olympic
Games |
Athens,
GRE |
200m |
22.50 |
2.0 |
2nd ht |
|
| 24 Aug |
Olympic Games |
Athens, GRE |
200m |
22.56 |
0.5 |
2nd semi |
|
 |
 |
| Abi in Athens |
|
| 3 Sep |
|
Brussels,
BEL |
200m |
22.74 |
0.3 |
2nd |
|
Cook expects records
to go
September
15, 2004
KATHY COOK believes Abi
Oyepitan is capable of breaking two of her long-standing British record.
Oyepitan became the
first British woman to make an Olympic 200m final for 20 years in Athens,
finishing seventh, and also reached the semi-finals of the 100m.
The 24-year-old former
World University Games 100m champion has been a revelation this season,
climbing to No.4 on the all-time UK rankings lists for the 100m with a
personal best of 11.17 set in Birmingham last month.
At the Olympics,
Oyepitan ran 20.50 in her 200m heat to climb to second on the all-time UK
list behind Cook - who ran 22.10 to finish fourth in the 200m final at the
1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cook was a phenomenally gifted sprinter,
setting her British 100m record of 11.10 23 years ago and recording her
400m British record of 49.43 when winning the bronze medal in the 1984
Olympic final.
British female sprinting
has been in a slump for more than a decade but Cook, a 44-year-old mother
of three, believes Oyepitan can break her records at the 100m and the
200m.
"I
watched her at the Olympics and she looked great," said Cook. "I
said to my kids I think my record is going to go."
And there is no doubting
Cook would love to see Oyepitan break her British records.
"I
think it is definitely time for them to go," added Cook. "It
is not healthy for the sport for the records to last so long." |
|
Oyepitan
launches SPAR Sprints Centre
3
Oct 2004
Following
her successful Olympic campaign, Abi Oyepitan launched the SPAR Sprints
Centre at Thames Valley Athletics Centre, one
of 15 centres that are part of the UK Athletics SPAR Sprints Initiative;
aiming to discover and nurture the UK’s sprint stars of the future.
The
Thames Valley Athletics Centre is the training base of several of GB’s
top sprinters, including Marlon Devonish, Tim Benjamin and Abi Oyepitan;
who train with Tony Lester, UK Athletics Performance Coach for West
London.
Olympic
200m Finalist Abi Oyepitan said:
“The
SPAR Sprints Initiative is great news for the future of British sprinting
and I am really pleased to see TVAC hosting one of the 15 centres.
“Thames
Valley Athletics Centre is a fantastic place to train and I hope we can
inspire local talented youngsters to fulfil their potential and reach the
highest levels in their sport.”
|
2005
Abi missed the 2005 season
with an Achilles injury.
She graduated in politics
and sociology from Brunel University and began studying for a Masters in human
rights and social change at City University.
2006
| 2 Jun |
Bislett
Games |
Oslo, NOR |
200m |
23.56 |
1.4 |
8th |
|
| 5 Jun |
|
Rehlingen,
GER |
100m |
11.87 |
-0.7 |
2nd ht |
|
| 5 Jun |
|
Rehlingen, GER |
100m |
11.44 |
0.8 |
1st |
|
| 11 Jun |
British
Grand Prix |
Gateshead,
GBR |
200m |
23.37 |
0.7 |
5th |
|
| 11 Jun |
British Grand Prix |
Gateshead, GBR |
100m |
11.53 |
0.1 |
6th |
|
| 29 Jun |
European Cup |
Malaga, ESP |
200m |
23.06 |
0.6 |
7th |
|
| 18 Jun |
|
Warsaw, POL |
100m |
11.68 |
|
4th |
|
| 15 Jul |
Norwich
Union European Trials |
Manchester,
GBR |
100m |
11.62 |
0.7 |
1st ht |
|
| 15 Jul |
Norwich
Union European Trials |
Manchester,
GBR |
100m |
11.57 |
0.6 |
3rd semi |
|
| 15 Jul |
Norwich
Union European Trials |
Manchester,
GBR |
100m |
11.67 |
1.2 |
5th |
|
| 22 Jul |
KBC Nacht van de Atletiek |
Heusden, BEL |
200m |
23.78 |
0.4 |
8th |
|
| 22 Jul |
KBC Nacht
van de Atletiek |
Heusden, BEL |
100m |
11.67 |
0.8 |
5th |
|
gateshead
| Spar
European Cup, Malaga
Determined
to put the previous evening’s relay disappointment behind her, Abi
Oyepitan (Shaftesbury Barnet) was running scared in the ninth lane over
200m. However she marked her returning form with a season's best of 23.06
and signs that she could soon return to the best of 2004.
But
the Tony Lester coached athlete had her usual must-do-better demeanour
about her after the race:
“That
wasn’t great. I didn’t work my bend at all and left myself with far
too much to do – it’s almost as though I was waiting for them to catch
up with me.” |
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