Ben St Lawrence (born 7 November 1981) is an Australian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who specialises in the 5,000 and 10,000metres. He is the former Australian and

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record holder in the 10,000metres. St Lawrence competed in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

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and qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000metres in both instances. He has also qualified for two World Championships, two

World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

and two

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Competition

St Lawrence's debut at an international athletics competition was at the

2008 World Cross Country Championships The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races ...

where he competed in the senior men's race; finishing 126th in at time 39minutes and twoseconds. He then competed at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

and finished 7th in both the 5,000metres and the 10,000metres. At the 2011 World Championships St Lawrence competed in the 5000metres and finished 11th in his heat and therefore did not progress to the final. Also in 2011 was the

where St Lawrence finished 60th, 66 places better than his previous World Cross Country Championships. For the

, St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000metres on the first day of the qualification window. At the Olympics, he finished 20th in his race. St Lawrence's next major competition was the 2013 World Championships where he competed in both the 5,000metres and the 10,000metres. In the 5,000metres he finished 18th in his heat and didn't progress to the final and in the 10,000metres he reached the final before withdrawing. He competed in his 2nd Commonwealth Games in the 2014 edition. He reached the final of the 10,000metres and finished 16th. St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000metres for the

in May 2015 at the athletics track in Palo Alto,

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; the same track on which he qualified for the 2012 Olympics. Domestically, St Lawrence has won six Australian titles; five at the track and field championships and one at the road running-championships. At the most recent track and field championships in 2016 St Lawrence finished 3rd in the 5,000 metres.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Lawrence, Ben Australian male long-distance runners 1981 births Living people Olympic athletes of Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia People from New South Wales