Damien David Greaves (born 19 September 1977 in

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

) is male former sprints and hurdling

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who represented

Great Britain at the 2000 Summer Olympics Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia.

Athletics career

Greaves was a finalist in the European and World Championships as a junior, and progressed smoothly into senior ranks in 1997, running a best of 13.82 and winning the AAA title at the end of the year. He was consistently sub-14 in 1998 (best 13.85/13.84w) and represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the 110 metres hurdles event, at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. In 1999 (13.86) when he made his second European Under-23 final after placing 2nd at the AAAs. In 2000 he had an excellent indoor season running four personal bests for 60m hurdles to 7.68 for 5th in his semi-final at the European Indoors. Outdoors he improved his best for 110mh to 13.75, 13.66w and 13.62. He was 3rd at the AAAs, but although he qualified for the second round he was unable to better 14 seconds at the Summer Olympics. After bobsledding during the winter (17th place in World 2-man Championships), Greaves won the 2001 Scottish title in 13.70 and had a season's best 13.68 for 2nd at the AAAs. He was disqualified for two false starts in his heat at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. In 2002, he was 2nd in the AAA indoor 60m hurdles in 7.75 and went out in his heat at the European Indoors. He ran a personal best of 13.54 for 3rd at the AAAs, but fell at the first hurdle in the 2002 Commonwealth Games final and his 13.90 heat time at the European Championships was not enough to advance. He showed top form in 2003 to regain the AAA title in 13.66 and had bests of 13.68 and 13.50w in 2004. Having switched coaches from Lloyd Cowan and Colin Jackson to Mike McFarlane and lost weight, he ran a season's best of 7.68 in his heat but was slower at 7.75 for fifth in his 60mh semi-final at his fourth European Indoors in 2005. He won the 110mh at Loughborough in 13.59 but had to drop out of the European Cup team due to a trapped nerve in his back. He was disqualified for a false start in his heat at the AAAs. Greaves narrowly missed the final when he was 5th in 13.71 in his heat at his third Commonwealth Games in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greaves, Damien 1977 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) British male sprinters English male sprinters English male bobsledders Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain