Leon Baptiste (born 23 May 1985) is a retired English sprint runner who specialises 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 ...

events. On the 4th of November 2021 he visited Rood End Primary School for the morning. He became the 100 m European junior champion in 2004 and won his first major title six years later by taking the 200 m

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 ...

at 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 ...

held in Delhi. He competes domestically for

Enfield and Haringey Athletic Club Enfield and Haringey Athletic Club is an athletics club based in North London. The club has tracks in two locations; Lee Valley Athletics Centre and New River Stadium. History Enfield and Haringey AC was formed in 1999 with the merger of Borough ...

and is coached by Michael Khmel at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

alongside the likes of

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Harry Leslie Aikines-Aryeetey (pronounced ''Ay-yee-tey'', born 29 August 1988) is an English sprinter. A prodigious junior runner, in 2005 he was named as the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and the IAAF's Rising Star of the Year after ...

, Tim Abeyu and

James Dasaolu James Dasaolu (born 5 September 1987) is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the 100 metres. He was the 2014 European champion over the distance. In July 2013, he became the second fastest Briton of all time after runni ...

Athletics career

Junior career

Baptiste chose

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

over

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

when a

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

injury whilst only 14 ruled him out of the sport. Speaking of the injury Baptiste said "My main passion was football, but I saw the talent I had in athletics. I was playing for a Sunday League team in the

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

area and I tore ligaments in my knee during a game. I was 14 at the time...I carried on playing and made it worse. I still can’t kick a football. Amazingly, the injury does not affect my running. When I kick a ball, my knee goes out of place, but when I run, it is fine." As a result of the injury Baptiste focused his attention on sprint running and he won the

in the

at the European Junior Championships in Finland when only 18. He also anchored the 4x100 metres relay team to win his second gold of the competition. As a result, he was named junior male athlete of the year by the British Athletics Writers' Association. At the annual UK AAA Junior championships Baptiste won the 200 m title for three years in a row in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and the 100 m title twice in 2003 and 2004. In 2004 he improved his 100 m best to 10.33 sec with a run in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. Aiming to build upon his European junior title, he ran at the 2004 World Junior Championships. However, in the 100 m semi-finals he was eliminated after finishing third, beaten out of qualification by

James Ellington James Ellington (born 6 September 1985) is a British sprinter, who races in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He has represented his country twice at the Olympic Games (2012, 2016), is a two-time relay gold medallist with Great Britain at the Eur ...

Senior competition

His progress in the 100 metres stalled as he moved into the senior ranks and it was not until 2008, when he ran 10.26 sec in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, that he improved upon his 2004 performance. He began to focus on running the

instead and finished sixth in the event final at the

2007 European Athletics U23 Championships The 6th European Athletics U23 Championships was held between 12 and 15 July 2007 in the Gyulai István Athletic Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary. Results Complete results and medal winners were published. Men Women †: In discus ...

. The next year he set a 200 m best of 20.76 sec to take third place in the British Olympic Trials. Baptiste won consecutive UK indoor titles over 200 m in 2009 and 2010, which included an indoor best of 20.90 sec to become the third fastest European that year.

2010 Commonwealth Games

On 10 October 2010 Baptiste won the 200 m gold medal at the

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, ensuring England's first sprint gold at the games for 12 years since

Julian Golding Julian Emmanuel Golding is an English former international sprinter. Athletics career Golding was born in Harlesden, North West London. Attending St Augustine's Church of England High School in Kilburn, he enjoyed playing all sports before ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. In the final he ran 20.45 secs to overcome fellow British athletes

Marlon Devonish Marlon Ronald Devonish, (born 1 June 1976) is an English former sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. A prodigious relay runner with particular strength as a 'bend' runner, Devonish ran the third leg for the Great Britain q ...

and

Christian Malcolm Christian Sean Malcolm (born 3 June 1979) is a retired Welsh track and field athlete who specialised in the 200 metres. In 2020 he was appointed Head Coach of the British Athletics Olympic Programme. Early life Malcolm was born and was brought ...

, as well as Jamaica's

Lansford Spence Lansford Spence (born 15 December 1982) is a Jamaican sprinter. Together with Sanjay Ayre, Brandon Simpson and Davian Clarke he won a bronze medal in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He also competed in the in ...

who came in second. The win came on the back of disappointment for Baptiste as only earlier in the year he had failed to qualify for the 2010 European Championships, losing a run off for a place in the squad to Devonish. Speaking of his surprise at the turnaround in his fortunes at the Commonwealths, Baptiste said "If you had told me I would be Commonwealth champion at the start of the year I really would have doubted it so this win for me is just amazing." Later in the tournament he competed as part of the English relay team running the second leg. Running alongside Ryan Scott,

Mark Lewis-Francis Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis, MBE (born 4 September 1982) is a retired British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialised in the 100 metres and was an accomplished regular of GB 4 x 100m relay. A renowned junior, his greate ...

and

, Baptiste picked up his second gold medal of the games as the relay team finished with a time of 38.75 sec pipping the Jamaicans.Morethanthegames , Lewis Francis anchors sprint relay team for gold
/ref> On 12 May 2014 Baptiste announced his retirement from competitive sport but will concentrate on his coaching career. (Source, "Athletics Weekly")http://www.athleticsweekly.com/featured/leon-baptiste-retirement-2800/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptiste, Leon 1985 births Living people English male sprinters British male sprinters Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Black British sportsmen Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games