Maximilian Robertson (born 27 December 1963) is a male

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

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 competed 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 got a ticket on the plane to represent

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 is ...

at the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

and the 1992 Olympic Games. He also won a silver medal at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

. He won five

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

titles and four

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...

titles.

Career

Robertson was born in

Weymouth, Dorset Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorset, on the English Channel coast of England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, south of the county town of Dorchester, Weymouth had a population of 53,427 in 2021. It is the third l ...

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 finished second to Ahmed Hamada of Burundi at the 1985 AAA Championships in 50.16 secs, and in his first season running below 50 seconds, he achieved his season's best with 49.75 on 30 August 1985 in Budapest, to be the second ranked 400 metres hurdler in the UK behind Mark Holtom. He would go on to rank in the UK top three for eight consecutive seasons (1985-1992). Robertson won both the UK Championships and

titles in 1986, running a personal best of 49.53 at the latter. 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 ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, he won the silver medal for

in a time of 49.77, behind Phil Beattie of

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 ...

. At the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Stuttgart, he reached the semi-finals, running 50.06. Robertson retained both the UK and AAAs titles in 1987. He tied with

Kriss Akabusi Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi , MBE (born 28 November 1958), known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete. His first international successes were with the British 4×400 metres relay team, winning a ...

(in Akabusi's first season at 400m hurdles) at the UK Championships in 49.56, before winning the AAA Championship title in 49.51. At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he ran 49.73 to reach the semi-finals, where he was eliminated in 49.90. 1987 also saw him improve his personal best to 49.35. Robertson won his third AAA title at the 1988 AAA Championships/Olympic trials in 50.23 secs, earning Olympic selection. At the

Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, he was eliminated in the heats with 50.67. 1989 saw him win his third UK title and fourth AAAs title. Robertson reached his peak at the 1990European Championships in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

, running his lifetime best of 49.25 in the semi-finals, to miss the final by just one-one hundredth of a second. He won his fourth UK title and fifth AAA title in 1991, running a season's best of 49.97 at the AAA. Forced out of the 1991 World Championships through injury, he concluded his international career by competing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he failed to finish in the heats.

Personal life

Robertson has two daughters; Clara Rose (Feb 1999) and Eleanor Jayne (Oct 2001).

Competition record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Max 1963 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England English male hurdlers Olympic athletes of Great Britain Sportspeople from Weymouth Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games