Marcus Adam (born 28 February 1968) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

retired

sportsperson An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, who represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

as both a sprinter and a

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

. Competing in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, he won the gold medal in the

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 ...

at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

, and also won gold and silver medals respectively in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and 1990 European Championships. He is also a member of the team which holds the British record in the 4 x 200 metres relay. After retiring from athletics, he shifted to the sport of

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

. He competed in the two-man bobsleigh event at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

(finishing in tenth place), having previously competed as a sprinter at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

(finishing in eighth place in the 200 metres and fourth place in the 4 x 100 metres relay).

Athletics

Adam was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.. Retrieved on 25 February 2009. At the 1987 European Junior Athletics Championships, he won gold medals in both the 200 metres and the 4 x 100 metres relay. In the same year he won his first medal at the UK Championships, with a bronze medal in the

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 ...

behind

Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...

and

Jamie Henderson Jamie Henderson (born January 1, 1979) is a former American Football player (NFL). He played cornerback at the University of Georgia and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2001 draft by The New York Jets. He played for the New York Jets from 2001 ...

. In 1989, Adam started by winning the silver medal at the

Amateur Athletics Association The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britai ...

(AAA) Indoor Championships. He then won both the 100 and 200 metres at the UK Championships, and at the AAA Championships in the same year he won the silver medal in the 100 metres and the gold medal in the 200 metres. Also, in June 1989 he helped establish a British record of 1:21.29 minutes in the rarely contested 4 x 200 metres relay (together with

Ade Mafe Adeoye "Ade" Olubunmi Mafe (born 12 November 1966) is a retired male English sprinter who competed in the 200 metres and 400 metres. At the age of 17, he represented Great Britain at the 1984 Olympic Games, reaching the 200 metres final. Also a ...

, Linford Christie and John Regis). This record still stands. In February 1990 he helped establish a new British indoor record of 1:22.99 minutes in the same event. (The time was beaten in March 1991.) Also in the 1989–90 indoor season, Adam won the 200 metres race at the AAA Indoor Championships. Adam's international breakthrough came in the 1990 outdoor season. One of the season highlights was the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Adam finished fourth in the 100 metres event with a wind-aided time of 10.14 seconds, 0.02 seconds behind bronze medallist

Bruny Surin Bruny Surin (born July 12, 1967) is a Canadian former track and field athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4×100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2008 he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 1996 Summer Ol ...

. He then won the 200 metres with a wind-aided time of 20.10 seconds, ahead of his fellow English athletes John Regis and Ade Mafe, who finished second and third. Adam would never run faster than these two wind-aided times at the Commonwealth Games. He went on to win a second gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay (together with Clarence Callender, John Regis and Linford Christie). Adam also participated in the 1990 European Championships. He reached the semi-finals of the

, and won a silver medal in the

(together with

Darren Braithwaite Darren Braithwaite (born 20 January 1969) is a retired British sprinter. Braithwaite was a member of the British team which set a world indoor record for the rarely contested 4×200 metres relay on 3 March 1991 in Glasgow. Braithwaite and his ...

, John Regis and Linford Christie). The time of 37.98 seconds was a British record, which would stand until 1993. Adam achieved a personal best time in the 100 metres in July 1991, clocking in 10.23 seconds at a meet 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 ...

. In the 1991–92 indoor season, Adam competed at the 1992 European Indoor Championships, reaching the semi-finals of the 200 metres. In June 1992, Adam achieved his lifetime best time in the 200 metres, with a time of 20.41 seconds at a meet in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

. At the 1992 Summer Olympics, Adam reached the final of the

, finishing in eighth place with a time of 20.80 seconds. He was also a member of the British

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

team which finished in fourth place. Domestically, Adam won the bronze medal in 100 metres at the AAA Championships, and at the UK Championships he won the bronze medal in 100 metres and the gold medal in the 200 metres. Adam was then absent from the spotlight for several years. He made a brief return in the winter of 1999, when he competed at the World Indoor Championships, and won the 200 metres event at the AAA Indoor Championships.

Bobsleigh

Adam later took up the sport of bobsleigh. As a brakeman, he finished tenth in the two-man event at the 2002 Winter Olympics together with Lee Johnston.

References

External links

Marcus Adam
British Olympic Association
Winter Olympics 2002 Team GB - Marcus Adam
BBC Sport * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Marcus 1968 births Living people Athletes from London British male sprinters English male sprinters English male bobsledders Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Great Britain Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from London Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games