Michael Shelley (born 10 October 1983) is an Australian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in track events and road races. He has won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

event at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

at Glasgow, Scotland, as well as the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, Australia. He has also represented Australia at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

and the

IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships is a biennial international half marathon competition organised by World Athletics. The competition was launched as the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992 and held annually until 2010. It ...

. On the road, he has won at the

Gold Coast Half Marathon The Gold Coast Marathon is an annual road marathon on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, first held in 1979. Marketed as "Australia's premier road race", the marathon is the only race in Australia to hold World Athletics Label status. ...

and the City2Surf race in Sydney.

Career

Born in

Southport, Queensland Southport is a coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. In the , Southport had a population of 31,908 people. It contains the Gold Coast central business district. Geography Sout ...

, Shelley made his first international appearance at the

2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Kingston, Jamaica from July 16 to July 21, 2002. Men's Results Women's Results Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, ...

. He had set a career best of 9:08.28 for the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

earlier that year but did not manage to progress beyond the heats at the competition. He soon changed his focus to 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 Athletic ...

instead and set a personal best of 3:39.90 before going on to take third at the 2003

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 ...

.Michael Shelley
.

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...

. Retrieved on 2010-10-16. He also ran in the short race at the

2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20/21, 2004. The races were held at the Ossegem Park in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', and for the IAAF. ...

.Shelley Michael

IAAF 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 for ...

. Retrieved on 2010-10-16. He emerged in the senior ranks in 2007, finishing in 65th place at the

2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2007. The races were held at the Mombasa Golf Course in Mombasa, Kenya. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encom ...

and running a

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

best time of 7:59.59. He began moving into longer distance events in 2008 and, after placing 50th over at the

2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races ...

, he won the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

event at the

Gold Coast Marathon The Gold Coast Marathon is an annual road marathon on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, first held in 1979. Marketed as "Australia's premier road race", the marathon is the only race in Australia to hold World Athletics Label status. ...

in July, recording a time of 1:02:41. He earned selection for the

2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 12 October 2008. This event was first announced as the 2008 IAAF World Road Running Championships, but in November 2007, the IAAF announced that the name of t ...

and he was the region's best performer with a sixteenth-place finish. At the end of the year he competed in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the Zatopek Classic in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and finished in third place with a time of 28:08.96. 2009 Season He broke new ground with personal bests of 13:38.30 for the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

and 27:59.77 for the

at the start of 2009. His third appearance at the World Cross Country Championships resulted in his best performance to date, coming in 36th place in the senior race. He returned to the Gold Coast half marathon to defend his title but he was pipped at the line by

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Dickson Marwa Dickson Marwa Mkami (born 9 March 1982 in Tarime District, Mara Region) is a Tanzanian long-distance runner. He competes in both track and road running. He represented Tanzania at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2008 Olympic Games. He is the T ...

, leaving Shelley with a personal best of 1:02:10 and the runner-up spot just one second behind. In September he won the City2Surf in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

with a time of 41:02. However, the 2009 season also brought along some setbacks for Shelley's career. He suffered a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his leg and he also lost his funding from the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. 2010 Season Making his debut in the event, Shelley entered the 2010

Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. ...

in April and finished in twelfth place with a time of 2:13:05. He represented Australia at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

and was chosen for the marathon. Running in only his second outing over the distance, the relatively slow pace worked in his favour as he overhauled

Amos Tirop Matui Amos Tirop Matui (born 27 May 1976) is a Kenyan professional long-distance running, long-distance and marathon runner. He has won marathons on four continents with career highlights including consecutive wins and course records at the Singa ...

in the final stages to take the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

behind

John Kelai John Ekiru Kelai (born 29 December 1976) is a male long-distance runner from Kenya, who specialises in the marathon. He set his personal best of 2:09:09 hours for the distance at the 2005 edition of the Eindhoven Marathon, where he finished fo ...

. 2011 Season He was invited to run at the

2011 London Marathon The 2011 London Marathon was the 31st running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 17 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai in a course record time of 2:04:40 hours and ...

and he reached the top ten, setting a personal best of 2:11:38 hours. His second marathon race of the year came at the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon (branded TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road race has a Platinum Label from World Athletics. During the event, there a ...

in October. Although he finished eleventh overall, he set a personal best time of 2:11:23 hours. 2012 Season Running in bib number 1059, Shelley placed 16th overall in a time of 2:14:10 at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The race was won by Ugandan born runner, Stephen Kiprotich in a time of 2:08:01. 2013 Season On 13 October 2013, Shelley placed 12th in the

Chicago marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

with a time of 2:13:09 which was just outside his personal best of 2:11:23. The race was won by Kenyan

Dennis Kimetto Dennis Kipruto Kimetto (born 22 January 1984) is a Kenyan long distance runner who competes in road running events. He was the world record holder in the men's marathon with a time of 2 hours 2 minutes 57 seconds, a record which he held until Eli ...

in a time of 2:03:45. In the process, Shelley became the 4th Australian marathon runner to clock an A qualifying time for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. 2014 Season On 27 July 2014, Shelley won the Gold Medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in a personal best time of 2:11:15. 2016 Season On 15 May 2016, he won Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon race in Sydney with a time of 01:03:59 2017 Season In October, Shelley placed 10th in the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

, finishing with a time of 2:12.52. 2018 Season On 15 April 2018, Shelley won the gold medal in the Marathon event at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games with a time of 2:16:46.

References

External links

*
Michael Shelley
at

* * * * * (2010) * (2014) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelley, Michael 1983 births Living people Australian male long-distance runners Australian male marathon runners Australian male steeplechase runners Olympic athletes of Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics 21st-century Australian people Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games