Andrew James Baddeley (born 20 June 1982) on The Wirral, Merseyside 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 ...

Career

He finished sixth in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg. He also competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and has a silver medal from the 2005 Summer Universiade. He finished second in the 1500 metres final at the European Cup in Athletics 2007 in Munich, with a time of 3:48.08 minutes. At the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

on 15 June 2007, Baddeley ran 3.51.95 for the mile which took almost 5 seconds off his personal best and moved him to 12th spot on the UK all time ranking list. He won the Dream Mile at the 2008 Bislett Games in a world leading time of 3:49.38, taking another 2 seconds off his lifetime best. Baddeley is a member of Harrow Athletics Club and competes in the British Athletics League matches when available for domestic duty. He won the short race at the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country in both 2008 and 2009. He took part in the Beijing 2008 Olympics qualifying for the 1500m finals in which he finished in 8th place, the highest finished place for a British athlete since Michael East finished 6th in 2004 at the Athens Olympics. He ran the 1500 metres at the 2009 World Championships but only managed to reach the semi-finals. A month after the Championships, he competed in the

Fifth Avenue Mile The Fifth Avenue Mile is an annual road race on Fifth Avenue in New York City, United States. The race begins at 80th Street and heads twenty blocks south to 60th Street. First held on September 26, 1981, the race is currently organized by ...

and beat Bernard Lagat and

Leonel Manzano Leonel "Leo" Manzano (born September 12, 1984) is a retired Mexican-American middle-distance track and field athlete specializing in the 1500 m and mile. He was a silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Manzano is known for finishing ...

among others to win the race. Also in 2009 he ran in the team which set a British record time of 14:54.57 in the 4×1500 metres relay. Going into the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

, he had the European leading time of 3:34.50 (via a fifth-place finish at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

). He failed to reach the podium in a tactical 1500 m final and he finished in sixth place behind the Spanish team in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. He represented Europe at the

2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 200 ...

and finished in fifth place, one spot behind European champion

Arturo Casado Arturo Casado Alda (born 26 January 1983 in Madrid) is a Spanish middle distance runner. Achievements Personal bests *800 metres - 1:44.74 - Rieti (ITA) 29.08.2010 *1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fift ...

. He returned to defend his Fifth Avenue Mile title but managed only third place on the occasion, finishing behind

Amine Laâlou Amine Laâlou (born 13 May 1982) is a Moroccan track and field athlete, who specializes in middle-distance running. He has represented his country at the Summer Olympics on two occasions; in 2004 and 2008. He began his career as an 800 metres sp ...

and Bernard Lagat. On 11 August 2012 Baddeley became the holder of the UK

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

record by completing the 5k multi-terrain course at the Bushy Park event in 13:48.

Personal life

Baddeley attended

Calday Grange Grammar School Calday Grange Grammar School (abbreviated to CGGS; also known as Calday Grange, Calday Grammar or simply Calday due to the difference in spelling to the nearby village of Caldy) is a non-denominational, academically selective grammar school, f ...

, and then graduated from

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

with a first in Engineering.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.Andy Baddeley profile
IAAF. Retrieved 2009-07-29.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baddeley, Andrew 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Wirral 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 Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Universiade silver medalists for Great Britain Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Parkrun Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People educated at Calday Grange Grammar School