Jamie Baulch
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

James Stephen Baulch (born 3 May 1973) is a retired Welsh sprint
athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...
and television presenter. He won the
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 ...
gold medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. As a member of British
4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...
teams, he won a gold medal at the 1997 World Championships, and silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He represented
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
at the
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 ...
where he won an individual silver and a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay.


Athletics career


Early career

Baulch made his debut for the GB & NI team at a Junior International in
Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
, Spain, in 1991, winning the 200m and breaking the Welsh record in that race. Baulch then changed his distance preference becoming a 400 metres specialist. Baulch particularly excelled at running the distance indoors (where races are usually run on 200m tracks rather than outdoor tracks which are 400m long). He won the 400m gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in 1999, and also claimed silver and bronze medals at the event in 1997 and 2003. In 1993 Baulch ran a Welsh record 46.50 at Sheffield in his first individual race at the distance since 1990, and he made a breakthrough in 1995 when he progressed to 45.14.


1996-99

In 1996 Baulch ran a 44.19 second leg for Britain's Olympic silver medal team that set a European record, and set his fifth Welsh record with 44.57. Baulch was a member of the British
4 × 400 m 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 ...
team which finished second in the 1997 World Championships. However, on 7 January 2010, it was announced the British team were to be awarded the gold medal as they were beaten by a United States team which included
Antonio Pettigrew Antonio Pettigrew (November 3, 1967 – August 10, 2010) was an American sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters. Early life and career Pettigrew was born in Macon, Georgia. While attending St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Ca ...
, who subsequently admitted to having taken performance-enhancing drugs, thus disqualifying the US team. Baulch received his World Championship gold medal in May 2010 and, although he was happy, he said: "It would have been great to have been in front of 80,000 people up on the rostrum...nothing can replace that. This is a second best unfortunately, but it's nice to be recognised". In 1997 he set Welsh indoor records at 46.36 and 46.13 before breaking
Todd Bennett Todd Anthony Bennett (6 July 1962 – 16 July 2013) was a Great Britain, British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. Athletics career Bennett competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United Stat ...
's 12-year-old UK and Commonwealth indoor record of 45.56 with 45.39 at the UK Trials and then took the World Indoor silver behind
Sunday Bada Sunday Bada (22 June 1969 – 12 December 2011) was a Nigerian sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres event. He won three medals at the World Indoor Championships, including a gold medal in 1997. His personal best time was 44.63 secon ...
(Nigeria). Later he made the World final outdoors with a season's best 44.69 in the semis and ran a 44.08 third leg on the British silver-medal relay team. In 1999 he won all of his five competitions at 400m, including taking the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in
Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It wa ...
, Japan and running a best time of 45.60 in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. Outdoors he had a best of 44.82 in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
, which he followed with a clear win at the AAAs in 45.36. At the World Championships he had four individual runs in the low-45s, again making the final, and ran a 44.24 anchor leg for the British team that went out in the heats of the 4 × 400 m.


2000-03

In 2000 Baulch won over 400m at the European Cup and had a season's best of 45.06, but had a disappointing Olympic Games, going out in the heats of the 400m in 46.52, although producing a final leg of 44.65 to ensure that Britain made the final of the relay. Baulch was selected as captain of the British team at the 2001 World Indoors, but had to withdraw through injury and struggled for form in the summer, with a season's best of 46.15 in the heats at Edmonton, where he ran an encouraging 44.4 second leg for the British team in the final of the World 4 × 400 m. With an individual best of 46.01, he was again seen to best effect in relays in 2002, with a third leg of 45.1 to help Britain to victory in the European Cup 4 × 400 m and a third leg of 44.5 for the Welsh team that took the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in a race against England. He came back to form in 2003 with two bronze medals at the World Indoors, when he ran 45.99 to share the individual bronze medal with Paul McKee and in the relay. He ran a solid third leg for the British 4 × 400 m team at the European Cup, but had a disappointing outdoor season with a best of 46.43.


Change of coach

Baulch left coach
Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...
in a bid to revive his athletics career, moving to
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
with new trainer
Innocent Egbunike Innocent Ejima Egbunike (born 30 November 1961) is a former sprinter from Nigeria. He studied at Azusa Pacific University, where he still holds the school record at 400 metres and the automatically timed NAIA meet record at 200 metres. M ...
of Nigeria, a 4 × 400 m bronze medallist at the 1984 Olympics and a silver medallist in the individual 400m at the world championships in 1987.


Media career

In 1999 and 2000, Baulch hosted the British children's series ''Energize!'' He has also appeared on ''
A Question of Sport ''Question of Sport'' (previously ''A Question of Sport'') is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It is the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast onl ...
'', and finished third in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
programme '' Superstars'' in 2003. He was a trainee ranger in ''
Safari School ''Safari School'' is a BBC Two reality television series presented by Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek in which eight celebrities take part in a four-week ranger training course in the Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa. Synopsis The celebrities have ...
'', broadcast in January–February 2007, and competed in ''
Celebrity Mastermind ''Celebrity Mastermind'' is a celebrity version of ''Mastermind'', a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. It began in 2002 as a one-off special, expanding to the current arrangement of 10 episodes, broadcast during December a ...
'' in 2014. His specialist subject was the musician, Prince. Baulch became part of a circus act on
Cirque de celebrite A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...
. An Olympic special of ''
Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series presented by Phillip Schofield alongside Holly Willoughby from 2006 to 2011, who then returned in 2018, and Christine Bleakley from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their profe ...
'' aired in July 2012, before the London
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 ...
. It featured medal-winning Olympic athletes, including Baulch.


Post-Athletics and business ventures

After his retirement from athletics in 2005 Baulch set up several different businesses including Definitive, a sports management company and sports memorabilia company Authentic Sports. Baulch also launched fundraising platform uWin, and silent auction hosting company, BidAid. Baulch is part-owner of fashion brand Crow & Jester. Baulch is also known to be actively involved with
Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...
. From 2009- 2015 Jamie was an Ambassador for the Jaguar Academy of Sport, playing a key role in mentoring the next generation of British sporting talent. Jamie heads up The "21 Day ShapeUp by the Family" online challenge. Baulch also became a squad member for the Welsh touch rugby team in 2010 which won the European cup later that year.


Charity work

* Jamie Baulch has been involved with a local charity called Ty Hafan a children's hospice * Baulch also competed in race against a racehorse raising money for
Barnardos Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...
* Baulch also ran in the
London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...
in 2011 raising money for Barnardos


Trampolining

Baulch excelled as a
trampolinist Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more co ...
in his youth, and won a silver medal at the Welsh Schools Trampoline Championship in 1991.


Family and personal life

Baulch was born in Nottingham, but raised by adoptive parents in
Risca Risca ( cy, Rhisga) is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years. It is spl ...
, near Newport, Wales. Baulch is mixed race, his biological parents being a white English mother and a black Jamaican father. In 2014 Baulch made a TV documentary for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, ''Being'' ''Jamie Baulch: Looking for My Birth Mum'', where he tracked down and was reunited with his birth mother. He then made a follow-up documentary for the BBC, ''Being Jamie Baulch: The Search for My Birth Dad'', in 2016.


Achievements


Personal outdoor bests


Personal indoor bests


Medals


References


External links

* * * *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baulch, Jamie 1973 births Living people Welsh male sprinters British male sprinters Sportspeople from Nottingham People from Risca Sportspeople from Caerphilly County Borough Sportspeople from Newport, Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic athletes of Great Britain Welsh Olympic medallists Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Wales Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Wales Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Black British sportspeople Welsh people of Jamaican descent British sportspeople of Jamaican descent Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners