John William Steffensen (born 30 August 1982) is an Australian former

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 specialised in

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...

and

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 ...

. He won silver at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens. His personal bests were 20.79 and 44.73.

Biography

Born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n immigrant parents, Steffensen competed in the

, and was a part of the Australian team that won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the

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 ...

. Steffensen won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the 400 m at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, with a time of 44.73, setting a new personal best. He won a second gold medal as the first runner in the 4 × 400 m Australian relay team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He boycotted 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 ...

after a series of disputes with

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...

, which he accused of mismanaging athletes. He is an old boy of

Trinity College, Perth Trinity College is an independent school, independent day school for boys, located on the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River foreshore in East Perth, Western Australia. The school was established in 1962 when students from the city schools ...

, and

Guildford Grammar School Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an independent Anglican coeducational primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in Guildford, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Initia ...

, Perth (92-96). He was runner up to

Stephanie Rice Stephanie Louise Rice, OAM (born 17 June 1988) is an Australian former competitive swimmer. She won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2009. On 9 April 2 ...

in the 2013 Australian version of the television program ''

Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States The president of the Unite ...

''. Since then, he has been making regular appearances on Nine Network's '' Wide World of Sports'' as a co-host. Steffensen collaborated with Athletics Australia to develop the

Nitro Athletics Nitro Athletics was a track and field series featuring multi-day meetings between teams of twelve athletes. The teams contained both men and women and also para-athletics competitors. There are both national and international teams. The events con ...

track and field series, which included variations on the traditional one-day athletics meeting with the intention of widening the sport's fanbase. Steffensen made his first step into motor racing at Sandown in 2017 driving a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge series with Zagame Motorsport backed by Repair Management Australia.Olympian set for racing debut at Sandown
Speedcafe.com (2017-04-06). Retrieved on 2017-04-06. He finished the championship in eighth and moved immediately into the

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Porsche Carrera Cup Australia (known commercially as the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia) is an Australian motor racing series open to Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. First held in 2003, it is administered by Porsche Cars Australia Pty Ltd ...

in 2018 driving in the Porsche Centre Melbourne team.

References

External links

Official website
*
Athletics Australia profile

John Steffensen - Dexion Brand Ambassador
1982 births Living people Athletes from Perth, Western Australia Australian male sprinters Olympic athletes of Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia World Athletics Championships medalists The Apprentice Australia candidates Australian racing drivers People educated at Trinity College, Perth People educated at Guildford Grammar School Australian people of South African descent {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub