Mark Ashton Richardson (born 26 July 1972, in Slough) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres and

4 x 400 metres 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 ...

for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He won the gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1997 World Championships, and again in the same event at the 1998 European Championshipss. At the Olympic Games, he won relay silver and bronze medals in 1992 and 1996. In the individual event, Richardson's most significant international results were silver at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''( Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unpreceden ...

and bronze in the 1998 European Championships, in addition to three domestic championships gold medals between 1995 and 2002. As of July 2022, Richardson was ranked joint third in the all-time Great Britain lists for 400 metres

Athletics career

He competed for Great Britain in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

held in

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the silver medal with his team mates

Iwan Thomas Iwan Gwyn Thomas (born 5 January 1974) is a Welsh sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 metres, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is a former European, Commonwealth Games and Wo ...

Jamie Baulch James Stephen Baulch (born 3 May 1973) is a retired Welsh sprint athlete and television presenter. He won the 400 metres gold medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. As a member of British 4 × 400 metres relay teams, he won a gold medal ...

and

Roger Black Roger Anthony Black MBE (born 31 March 1966) is a retired English athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Ga ...

. This team set a UK record, 2:56.60, in the process. At the 1997 World Championships in Athens, Richardson ran the anchor leg for Great Britain in the 4 × 400 m relay, winning the silver medal. His unofficial split time was 43.5. On 7 January 2010 it was announced that Great Britain's 1997 World Championship 4 × 400 m relay team are to be awarded the gold medal; they were beaten by a U.S. team that 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 admitted in 2008 to using performance-enhancing drugs. He represented

and won double silver in the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay, at the

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Doping case

Richardson received a two-year ban from the IAAF after he failed a drugs test which was taken on 25 October 1999. He was suspended in March 2000 and subsequently missed the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He tested positive for banned substance

nandrolone Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) which is used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate (brand name Durabolin). Nandrolon ...

, but claimed that he was unaware of taking the substance. Unlike fellow competitors

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 ...

Gary Cadogan Gary Anthony Cadogan (born 1966), is a male former athlete who competed for England at 400m Hurdles. Athletics career Cadogan was the English national champion after winning the 1993 UK Athletics Championships and 1993 AAA Championships. He rep ...

and Doug Walker, Richardson accepted the ban and chose not to pursue his case to arbitration. The IAAF did re-instate Richardson in June 2001, under their "exceptional circumstances" rule.

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The orga ...

also cleared Richardson (as they did with Christie, Cadogan and Walker) as they believed there was enough reasonable doubt over the intention to take a banned substance. The IAAF overrule such decisions because they hold athletes completely responsible for drug samples under a "strict liability rule".

Later career and retirement

Although he was re-instated to competition in 2001, Richardson was never able to deliver on the potential that he showed prior to his ban when he became one of the few athletes ever to beat Michael Johnson over 400m in 1998. He never managed to win a solo gold medal at a major championship and retired from the sport after failing to recover from an Achilles tendon injury towards the end of 2003.Richardson forced to call time on career
guardian.co.uk

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Mark 1972 births Living people British male sprinters English male sprinters English sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Sportspeople from Slough People educated at Claires Court School Olympic athletes of Great Britain Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Alumni of Loughborough University World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships winners