Michael Alan Rimmer (born 3 February 1986, in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

) is an English

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. He was born in

. Originally a member of Southport Waterloo AC, he changed clubs to rivals Liverpool Pembroke Sefton, who he still now races with. He also attended Christ The King catholic high school and broke numerous records in school mile races held at Victoria park, Southport. Michael was also a former sports scholar at

Liverpool John Moores University , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...

Running career

He finished 8th in the 800m final at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. Finished 2nd in his first European Cup in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(2007). He is the first male 800 m runner in British history to win national titles at under 15, 17, 20 and as a senior athlete. His personal best is 1:43.89 (lowering his previous mark by over half a second) which he set in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

in 2010. This places him 6th on the "UK all time list" and is the fastest by any British athlete in over 17 years. As he won the Senior title in 2008, he was selected to represent Team GB at the Beijing Olympics. Rimmer's build-up to the Games was disrupted by food poisoning, which he picked up at the holding camp in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. The Southport runner comfortably came through his first-ever Olympic race in 1:47.61, despite having lost almost because of his illness. In August 2009, Rimmer competed in 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, ...

, held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Rimmer looked promising throughout the heats of the 800 m, and after squeezing through his previous round he was well down the field in the semi-final in a time of 1:46.77. In July 2010, he became the first male 800 m runner in history to win five consecutive national senior titles in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. He won his first major championship medal in the European Championships in Barcelona, a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

behind

Marcin Lewandowski Marcin Przemysław Lewandowski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 13 June 1987) is a Polish professional soldier and middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres and 1500 metres. Personal life Lewandowski was born in Szczecin on 13 June ...

with a 1:47.17.

Competition record

References

External links

* * 1986 births Living people English male middle-distance runners British male middle-distance runners Olympic male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Black British sportspeople {{England-athletics-bio-stub