Brett Morse (born 11 February 1989) is a British athlete who competes in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

Career

Born in Penarth,

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, He is a member of the

Birchfield Harriers Birchfield Harriers is an athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England. As well as welcoming recreational runners they cater for all levels of experience up to and including Olympic athletes whether a ...

club and is currently coached by Andy Brittan. He was previously coached by

Vésteinn Hafsteinsson Vésteinn Hafsteinsson (born 12 December 1960) is a retired discus thrower from Iceland. He was born in Selfoss (town), Selfoss, and represented his native country at four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1984. His personal best is 67.64 ...

. This caused controversy due to Icelandic Haffesteinson's two-year ban from competition after a failed drug test for nandralone at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. Morse has a degree in sports management from the

University of Wales Institute Cardiff , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

. Morse won the gold medal at the 2010 UK Championships, becoming the first Welshman to win the discus title. He competed for

Wales at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Almost 175 athletes across 15 different sports competed for Wales at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, between 3 October and 14 October 2010. In order to send a team to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Wales needed to raise £500,000. F ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, India, where he finished in sixth position. At the 2011 World Championships, held in Daegu, South Korea, he advanced to the final where he finished in 12th place. Morse represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the

2012 European Athletics Championships The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years. ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, Finland, but failed to reach the discus final. At the 2012 GB Olympic Athletics Trials on 24 June in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, Morse finished second, with a best throw of , behind

Lawrence Okoye Lawrence Okoye (born 6 October 1991) is a British track and field athlete and former American football defensive tackle. He is the British record holder in the discus event. Okoye became the first ever British athlete to win a medal in Discus ...

who won the event with a throw of . The result meant that Okoye secured automatic selection for the 2012 Olympics but Morse was still 65 centimetres short of the 'A' qualification standard needed to guarantee his place. In July 2012 Morse was confirmed as part of the Great Britain team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's discus alongside compatriots Lawrence Okoye and Abdul Buhari. The event was held at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

on 6–7 August. The 2013 season saw Brett join up with at the time

Welsh Athletics Welsh Athletics (WA; cy, Athletau Cymru) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Wales. It was set up as a limited company in 2007, replacing the former Athletic Association of Wales. Welsh Athletics is part of UK Athletics, the natio ...

throwing coach, Andy Brittan. During the season Brett extended his own Welsh discus record to 66.84m, and won the

British Athletics Championships The British Athletics Championships is the premier national championship in track and field held in the United Kingdom, and are organised by British Athletics. The event has doubled as the main trials meet for international team selection for ma ...

held at Birmingham. He was invited to the

London Grand Prix The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Di ...

(Anniversary Games 2013 ) in London's Olympic Stadium, where he finished sixth in a world class field, narrowly missing out on fifth place by 4 cm. Brett was also selected by Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the 2013 World Athletics Championship in Moscow. He finished the 2013 season 8th in the list of the World Best throws for that year, one of only four British athletes to make the top ten in their respective disciplines. During 2014 Morse parted company with his coach, and was still nursing a disc injury in his back which he first felt at the 2013 World championships whilst warming up for the qualification round. Despite this, in August of that year Brett was select to represent Wales in the Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow. He achieved 5th place with a throw of 60.84m, 3.16m behind the gold medal throw produced by USA based Vikas Gowda. This season Morse has gone back to basics and appointed a new coach, Nigel Bevan, who coached him previously (pre-2012), during a very successful period. While throwing in the Loughborough International in May, his opening competition of the season, he achieved a distance of 63.42m, greater than all of his throws of the previous season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Brett Living people 1989 births Sportspeople from Penarth British male discus throwers Welsh male discus throwers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University