Leon Reid (born 26 July 1994) is a former British-Irish

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 eve ...

sprinter. He won the bronze medal 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 ...

at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Northern Ireland's first athletics medal in 28 years, and silver in the event at the 2013 European Under-23 Championships. Reid took silver in the 200 m at the 2013 European U20 Championships. He won five Irish national titles (mostly for the 200 m).

Career

Born in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

, England, Leon Reid won silver medals for Great Britain at the 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival, 2013 European Athletics Under-20 Championships and

2015 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2015 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 10th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was held in Tallinn, Estonia from 8 to 12 July. Medal summary Men Women Med ...

. He also won a relay silver medal for England at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. He later decided to represent Northern Ireland – the nation of his mother's birth – and made his international debut for them at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He attempted to transfer his allegiance to represent Ireland, but this move was blocked following a temporary freeze on such moves by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. Once the freeze was lifted, Reid began competing for Ireland, with his first event the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Gleneagles ...

. Reid took bronze in the men's 200 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Initially he finished fourth, but was elevated when

Zharnel Hughes Zharnel Hughes (born 13 July 1995, The Valley, Anguilla) is an Anguillan-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for ...

was disqualified for a lane violation. This was the first Commonwealth Games athletics medal for Northern Ireland in 28 years. Reid won the 200 metres at the Irish Athletics Championships in June 2021, and was nominated for the postponed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

team. Initially, the

Olympic Federation of Ireland The Olympic Federation of Ireland or OFI ( ga, Cónaidhm Oilimpeach na hÉireann) (called the Irish Olympic Council until 1952 and the Olympic Council of Ireland until 2018) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the island of Ireland. At ...

rejected Reid's selection to the team, due to his pending trial for conspiracy to supply cocaine, but he was included in the team after filing an appeal. The Olympic Games took place in August 2021, and Reid qualified for the

semi-finals by finishing fifth in his heat, with a season's best time of 20.53 seconds. He failed to qualify for the final after finishing seventh in his semi-final. Reid was selected for the Northern Irish team at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

, but on 12 July 2022, he was barred from participating on security grounds.

Personal life

Reid was born in Bath to an English-Jamaican father, and a mother from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Northern Ireland. He was adopted by a woman whose parents were from the Republic of Ireland. He has self-identified as both

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

. In April 2021, Reid was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine by

Bristol Crown Court The Bristol Crown Court is a Crown Court venue in Bristol, England. It is located at the Law Courts in Small Street. Until 1993 the Crown Court met in the Guildhall, on the opposite side of the road. The new Crown Court, which has ten courtrooms ...

. In February 2022, he was given a 22-month suspended sentence, and ordered to do 220 hours of unpaid work.

International competitions

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Leon 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Bath, Somerset Irish male sprinters English male sprinters Male sprinters from Northern Ireland Irish people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Irish people of English descent People from Northern Ireland of Jamaican descent British sportspeople of Jamaican descent People from Northern Ireland of English descent English sportspeople of Jamaican descent English people of Northern Ireland descent Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ireland Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games

Career

Personal life

International competitions

See also

References

External links