Jeffrey Lawal-Balogun (born 2 July 1986) is a London-based British

track athlete 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 event ...

. Balogun began his career when he joined

Kent AC Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

at the age of 19. Balogun competes across 60m 100m and 200m distances, and has represented Great Britain at U23 and Senior level. He is coached by

Clarence Callender Clarence H Callender (born 16 November 1961 in East Ham) is a male British former sprinter. Athletics career Callender competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He represented England and competed in the 100 metres and won a silver medal in the 4 � ...

, the 1998 Olympic 4x100m Silver medallist.

Biography

Balogun lives in

Mottingham Mottingham is a district of south-east London, England, which straddles the border of both the London Borough of Bromley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located south of Eltham, southeast of Charing Cross. It is within the historic ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, and attended the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

, studying marketing. He was first approached to attend a training session after a Kent AC athlete saw him running to catch a bus in 2006 when he was 19. Balogun's first trial at Kent AC was overseen by Clarence Callender and Donovan Reid. Callender recalled that the first reaction that he and Reid had to Baloguns first trial run was ''"The next moment, when I looked up he was disappearing into the distance. He had trainers on and he'd never stretched before in his life but he just kept on running and wouldn't stop"''. Balogun made his first competitive appearance in the 200 metre event at the

British Athletics League The British Athletics League is a men-only track and field team competition in the United Kingdom. For women there is the completely separate UK Women's Athletic League. Launched in 1969, the British Athletics League in 2013 had five different di ...

National Two on May 6, 2006. He finished 2nd with a time of 22.70 seconds. Balogun became the 12th all-time fastest British athlete over 200m when he set a time of 20.38 seconds at a meeting in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 2009. He was ranked 2nd in Great Britain over 200 metres in 2009, and in 2010 was ranked 10th in Great Britain over 100 metres. Balogun was awarded a scholarship from the University of East London in 2010, in recognition of his sporting achievements.

Achievements

References

External links

Kent Athletic Club

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawal-Balogun, Jeffrey British male sprinters Alumni of the University of East London 1986 births Living people Black British sportsmen English sportspeople of Nigerian descent