Michael Walter Mathieu (born 24 June 1984) is a retired Bahamian sprinter hailing from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized 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 slight ...

and

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, running second leg and recording a 44.0 split, and the gold medal-winning team at the

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

. He was also a part of second place relay team at the 2007 World Championships. He won the bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Individually, he has won medals at the Central American and Caribbean Championships, taking the 400 m silver medal in 2008 and the 200 m gold in 2011. His personal bests are 20.16 seconds for the 200 m and 45.06 for the 400 m (the former being the Bahamian record mark).

Career

Mathieu attended St George's High School in the Bahamas, graduating in 2001 as their "Most Outstanding Athlete". He gained a sports scholarship to attend

Southwestern Christian College Southwestern Christian College (SwCC) is a private historically black Christian college in Terrell, Texas. History SwCC was founded in 1948 by the educator and minister G. P. Bowser under the name Southern Bible Institute in Fort Worth, Texa ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States.Michael Mathieu
. Texas Tech. Retrieved on 17 May 2012. As a junior athlete, he won two relay medals in the under-20 section of the 2002 CAC Junior Championships. The following year he took the 400 m

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the 2003 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. Moving up the age categories, he won a 400 m relay bronze medal at the 2006 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics. In 2004 he began studying economics at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

and started competing for the Texas Tech Red Raiders under coach Wes Kittley. In the 2005 indoor

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

season he was runner-up at the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

meet in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay. He earned

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n honours by reaching the NCAA indoor relay final, then achieved the same feat in the outdoor season. The 2006 indoor season was his last at Texas Tech: he set a 200 m personal best of 21.34 seconds and again reached the NCAA relay final. He reached the senior international level at the 2007 World Championships and became a fixture in the Bahamian national team from then onwards. He ran in the heats, both individually and in the relay, at the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008. Bid Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Rus ...

,Mathieu Michael
IAAF. Retrieved on 17 May 2012. then won two silver medals in the events at the

2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships The 2008 in athletics (track and field), 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio Pedro Grajales in Cali, Colombia between 4–6 July 2008 in athletics (track and field), 2008. A total of 44 events we ...

. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

he reached the semi-finals of the 400 m and took the relay silver medal with a time of 2:58.03 minutes. At the 2009 CAC Championships he came sixth in the 400 m final. He was selected for the national team at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

, but disqualifications meant he was out of the first round of both events. He performed better at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, reaching the semi-finals, but the team failed to finish the relay. Outdoors, he was a silver medalist in the relay at the 2010 CAC Games and fourth in the relay at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

. In 2011, a switch to focus on the 200 m event saw him have a career breakthrough. He ran a personal best of 20.38 seconds to win at the national championships then claimed the

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 b ...

in the event at the 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics. He also won the relay, running with Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller. He represented Bahamas in the 200 m at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

, but failed to finish in his semi-final due to injury. He came close to medal at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

, where he was fourth behind Brazil's Bruno de Barros. He opened his 2012 season in strong form. Competing on the Brazilian Athletics Tour, he ran a Bahamian record of 20.16 seconds for the 200 m and set a personal best in the 400 m with a run 45.06 seconds. He also equalled his

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 contested at ...

best with a time of 10.30 seconds. He also won gold at the 2012 London Olympics with the Bahamas 4 × 400 m team beating medal favorites USA with a national record. At the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, he won a silver medal as part of the men's 4 × 400 m team. At the

, Mathieu and the Bahamian team would win the bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay. Another former Texas Tech athlete, Gil Roberts, was a member of the gold medal-winning USA team.

Retirement

Mathieu retired after the 2021 Outdoor season with his last race being run on June 5, 2021 at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) New Life Invitational Track and Field Meet in Miramar, Florida.. He ran on a leg of the Bahamian 4x400 Metres Relay in a time of 3:03.51. The team was attempting to qualify for the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Mathieu now lives in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

with his wife and two sons. He coaches youth basketball for the Jr. Magic Warriors, along with owning a speed training camp company to help build speed for different sports.

References

External links