Matthew Clarke (born 29 April 1995) in Melbourne, Australia is an Australian Olympic athlete who competes in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

Early years

Clarke enjoyed long distance running as a child but gave it up in year 8. After finishing school at the age of 19 he found the motivation to return. By the time he was 20 he was running around 3:49 (1500m) and 8:32 (3000m) whilst still studying

Podiatry Podiatry () or podiatric medicine () is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and leg. A Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM), or a podiatrist, is a healthcare p ...

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

. Three years later he ran 3:44 over 1500m when he came ninth at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games trials. In June 2018, Clarke travelled to the US as a guide for Paralympian

Jaryd Clifford Jaryd Clifford (born 5 July 1999) is an Australian Paralympic, vision impaired, middle-distance athlete. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics. He won gold medals in the Men's 1500m and 5000m T13 events at the 2019 ...

. He raced as well and clocked a PB in the 1500m at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. Clarke works as a Sports Podiatrist at the Sports and Arthritic clinic (SPARC) in Mile End, SA. He is coached by Adam Didyk as a member of ASICS Team Tempo elite. Clarke lives with his fiancé Annabel Kitto who is also a 1500m track runner. Clarke studied Podiatry at

Achievements

At the age of 23 Clarke competing in a new event, the steeplechase.He ran 8:58 in January, 2019 and 8:38.68 on his second attempt in February. He was placed fifth at nationals and earned selection in the Australian team for the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

. Clarke came tenth in the final. He then clocked 28:39.02 for the 10,000m at Zatopek, Melbourne. (Named after Emil Zatopek, the Czech long-distance runner, it is the most prestigious track race in Australia). On 18 June 2021 in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Clarke ran a new personal best in the

of 8:22.62, the second fastest time ran by an Australian, in Australia and 10 seconds faster than his previous best. 7 days later, Clarke backed up to run another 3000m steeplechase on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in a time of 8:22.13 With that personal best it also placed him as the fifth all time Australian for the 3000m steeplechase. Clarke qualified for the

Tokyo 2020 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 host city during the 1 ...

where he competed in the Men's 3000m steeplechase. He ran fourteenth in his heat with a time of 8:42.37 and did not qualify for the final. He competed in the

at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships ( hu, 2023-as atlétikai világbajnokság), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, are scheduled to be held from 19 August to 27 August 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. The city of Budapes ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in August 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Matthew 1995 births Living people La Trobe University alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Australian male steeplechase runners Olympic athletes for Australia Place of birth missing (living people)