Lee Merrien (born 26 April 1979) is a British middle distance and long-distance runner. He has been named to the British team for the 2012 Summer Olympics following a Facebook campaign after he was initially not selected to the team. He has won multiple events at the

Island Games The Island Games (currently known as the NatWest International Island Games for sponsorship reasons) are biennial international multi-sports events organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). Competitor teams each represent d ...

for his home of Guernsey.

Career

Merrien competed at his first

in Gotland in 1999, however he did finish in a medal position that year. Representing his home of Guernsey, he went on to win nine gold medals over the next several years at the

in the half marathon, 1,500 m, 5,000 m and 4 × 400 m relay, and also won two silver medals and one bronze. At the

2009 Island Games The XIII Island Games were held in Åland, Finland, June 27-July 4, 2009. For the 13th edition of the Games, 25 teams competed in 14 different sports. Participating Countries 24 islands competed in the 2009 Island Games.List oParticipating Island ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

he set Island Games records in both the 1,500 m and the 5,000 m events. In the 2011 London Marathon, he set a new personal best of 2 h 14 min 27 s, which was within the "B" qualifying time for the 2012 Summer Olympics and was the fastest British competitor in the race. He admitted afterwards that he had mixed feelings regarding his time, as although it was a new personal best, it wasn't within the "A" qualifying time for the Games. His only previous attempt at the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

was in 2010 when he finished in 12th place. He finished 17th in the 2012 London Marathon, which was once again the highest placed British competitor in the race. He finished in a time of 2 h 13 min 41 s, a new personal best, just outside the Olympic qualifying time set by

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The orga ...

at 2 h 12 min. Due to this, he was not chosen for the British team at the 2012 Olympics, with Scott Overall and Dave Webb being chosen for the team, and with the third spot left deliberately empty. His time was inside the "A" time of 2 h 15 min as set by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. This resulted in an online campaign on Facebook to select Merrien for the British team, run by fan Cara Saul. The campaign resulted in 3,000 followers. Merrien appealed against the decision not to select him; his appeal was thrown out by UK Athletics. However, on 27 April, it was announced that the selectors had reversed their decision and added Merrien to the British team for the Olympics. Merrien's response was described as "ecstatic". In his final race prior to the 2012 Games, he won a half Marathon on Guernsey in June, eight and a half minutes ahead of the second placed athlete. Prior to the games, he is to complete altitude training in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

mountains in Europe, having previous attended camps in Iten, Kenya. At the Olympics he finished 30th in the field, the highest place Brit.

Personal life

Merrien attended the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, graduating with a degree in Coach Education and Sports Performance. He currently manages a running club. He is the spokesman for charity Male Uprising in Guernsey which aims to raise awareness of prostate, testicular and bowel cancer.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrien, Lee 1978 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bath Commonwealth Games competitors for Guernsey Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Great Britain Guernsey male middle-distance runners Guernsey male long-distance runners Guernsey people