Alexander (Alex) Beck (born 7 February 1992) is an Australian Olympic athlete. He is a three time defending National champion. Beck was selected to represent Australia in the men's

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

at the

2020 Summer Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He ran a personal best of 45.54 to finish sixth in his heat. At the 2022 Oceania Athletics Championships Beck won the gold medal in the 400 metres race. Beck reached the semi-finals of the 400 metres event at the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the f ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, with a run of 45.99.

Early years

From Benowa, Queensland, Beck was aged 16 when he came third in the

at the Australian Junior Championships. Following that, selection on the Australian World Youth team in 2009 followed and selection for the World Junior Championships the following year. Beck was selected for the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

2013

IAAF World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

where he was a member of the team that ran the

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. Beck then competed for Australia in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Achievements

Beck won the 400 metres Australian championships in 2021, running 46.01 to defeat five time national champion Steve Solomon, before doubling up and being awarded the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

title as well after Abdoulie Asim was disqualified for running out of his lane. This made him the first Australian man in 30 years to win both races in the same year. Beck completed his Bachelor of Exercise Science degree and then did a Doctor of Physiotherapy degree from

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its founding on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher ed ...

. He is now a qualified

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Alex 1992 births Living people Australian male sprinters Olympic athletes for Australia World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from Queensland