Paul Henderson (born 13 March 1971) is an Australian 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 ...

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

er. He won silver medals with the Australian 4×100 metres relay team 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 ...

in 1994 and

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nat ...

. He shares the

Oceanian Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...

and Australian record for the event at 38.17 seconds.

Career

Born in

Casino, New South Wales Casino is a town in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia, with a population of 10,914 people at the . It lies on the banks of the Richmond River and is situated at the junction of the Bruxner Highway and the Summerland Way. ...

, Henderson rose on the national scene as a junior athlete and at the 1989 Australian junior championships he won

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and was runner-up in both

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. The following year he won a sprint double at the junior championships. His international debut came at the

1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics was the 1990 edition of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on 8–12 August. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unoffici ...

, where he was chosen to run in all three short sprint events. He placed seventh over 200 m, but failed to make the final in either the 100 m or the 4×100 metres relay. A runner-up finish over 200 m at the

Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athlete ...

in 1993 brought him selection for the

1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations. Having ori ...

. On his senior debut for Australia he helped the national relay team to fifth place with a time of 38.69 seconds. His first international medal came the year after at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

, where the Australian 4×100 m relay won the silver medal behind Canada. This was only the second ever Commonwealth medal Australia had won in that event, after their 1974 win. Henderson formed part of the relay quartet for the

alongside Tim Jackson,

Steve Brimacombe Steve Brimacombe (born 7 May 1971) is an Australian athletics coach and former runner. Under the tutelage of renowned Scottish coach Jim Bradley, Brimacombe won the 1991 Stawell Gift after only 8 months of training. At the time he was only 19 ...

and

Damien Marsh Damien Marsh (born 28 March 1971) is a former Australian 100 metre and 200 metre sprint champion. A native of Goondiwindi, Queensland, Marsh finest moment as a sprinter was winning the 1995 100 metre IAAF Grand Prix Final in Monaco in a time ...

. Running the lead-off leg, the team set an Oceanian record time of 38.28 seconds in the heats to progress to the next round as the fastest team. They improved this further to 38.17 seconds to win their semi-final. The team was slightly slower in the final race, but were a clear second place behind Canada – the team's silver was Australia's first ever World Championships relay medal. The Australian women's

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

followed this with a second relay medal one hour later. His final major international appearance was at the

1996 Atlanta 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, ...

. He did not repeat the success of the World Championships and was eliminated in the first round of the individual 100 m before being disqualified in the men's relay event. He set his personal best for the 100 m of 10.27 seconds that same year.Paul Henderson
IAAF. Retrieved 2015-10-02.

Personal bests

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

– 6.77 (1999) *

– 10.27 (1996) *

– 20.63 (1993)

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Paul Living people 1971 births Sportsmen from New South Wales People from the Northern Rivers Australian male sprinters Olympic athletes of Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia World Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games