James Ellington (born 6 September 1985) is a British
sprinter, who races in the
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...
and
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 ...
. He has represented his country twice at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
(2012, 2016), is a two-time relay gold medallist with Great Britain at the
European Athletics Championships
The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe.
Editions
First held, for men ...
(2014, 2016), a silver medallist at the
2014 Commonwealth Games with the England relay team, and is a three-time participant at the
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 ...
.
At national level, he won back-to-back titles in the 200 m at the
British Athletics Championships
The British Athletics Championships is the premier national championship in track and field held in the United Kingdom, and are organised by British Athletics. The event has doubled as the main trials meet for international team selection for ma ...
from 2012 to 2013.
Career
He made his world senior championship debut at the
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011.
The United States topped the medal standings in th ...
in
Daegu, running 20.82 in the 200 m and finishing 5th in his heat. James was in the
Great Britain Olympic team
Athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories, and the three Crown Dependencies, can compete in the Olympic Games as part of Team GB. Athletes from Northern Ireland (part of the UK) can ...
for the
2012 Summer Olympics, running in 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 ...
. He finished fifth in his heat of 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 ...
and failed to progress. At the
2014 Commonwealth Games, he failed to reach the 200 m final, but was part of the England team that won the silver medal in men's 4 × 100 m, running in the heats. At the
2014 European Championships, he reached the semifinal in the men's 200 m, and was part of the Great Britain team that won the gold medal, running in the heat and final.
In November 2011 Ellington attracted widespread press coverage by selling his sponsorship rights on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
in the run up to
London 2012
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 ...
. The winning bid was £32,550, but the winning bidder was not genuine. Ellington eventually attracted sponsorship from skincare company
King of Shaves, who offered to sponsor him if the eBay deal fell through.
Accident
On 17 January 2017, Ellington was injured in a road accident alongside fellow sprinter
Nigel Levine
Nigel Levine (born 30 April 1989) is a British sprint track and field athlete. As well as an impressive sprint talent, Levine made a big impact in his first ever season over 400m in 2007 recording 46.31 and in 2009 reduced that to 45.78. In 2010 ...
; the pair "were riding a motorbike when they were struck head on by a car travelling on the wrong side of the road".
They were in
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
, Spain, undertaking warm-weather training with a group of British sprinters. Both athletes were admitted to hospital and were described on 18 January as "conscious and stable".
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' suggested that Ellington's injuries were "career ending" and stated that they consisted of "broken bones in his tibia and fibula and
eis also believed to have fractured his pelvis".
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellington, James
1985 births
Living people
English male sprinters
British male sprinters
Olympic male sprinters
Olympic athletes for Great Britain
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
European Athletics Championships winners
European Athletics Championships medalists
British Athletics Championships winners
Black British sportsmen
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games