Matthew Douglas (born 26 November 1976 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) is a retired British

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 the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

. He represented Great Britain at two consecutive Summer Olympics starting in 2000. At the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

he first represented

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, then later competed for

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 ...

. His personal best in the event is 48.54 seconds, set in 2003. As things stand it currently makes Douglas the 4th fastest Briton of all time over this distance. Douglas suffered from several injury problems towards the end of his career which forced him into early retirement. He then dedicated his time to taking over his family's solicitor practice. He has a degree in Sports Sciences from

Brunel University London Brunel University London is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pioneer of the I ...

Competition record

References

1976 births Living people Athletes from London Male hurdlers from Northern Ireland English male hurdlers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Alumni of Brunel University London Universiade silver medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade {{England-athletics-bio-stub