User:Bornbredbrummie/Ainsley Bennett

Ainsley Bennett (Born 22nd July 1954 in Jamaica)is a British former Olympic and World Championship sprinter from Birmingham, UK. At present, it is thought that he is working in sports management in the West Midlands.

Contents

* 1 Early life * 2 Athletics career * 3 References and notes * 4 External links

Early life.

Brought up in Birmingham, West Midlands, in the UK, Bennett attended Naseby Secondary Modern School (The school changed its name to Park View in the 1980s, and remains so to this date), in the area of Birmingham known as Alum Rock. This school coincidentally also produced a Republic of Ireland International cross-country runner, Paul O'Callaghan, who competed in six World Cross Country Running Championships, qualified for the Olympics (although injury prevented him from taking part) and wore the green of Eire from 1982 to 2003 in road, track and cross country races.

Athletics career.

Ainsley competed for Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club, based in Perry Barr in North Birmingham, and represented Great Britain at the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal, Canada, where he reached the semi-finals of the men's 200m sprint race, as well as being one of the men's 4 x 400m relay team which unfortunately failed to progress further than the first heats.

However, Bennett fared better in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, where he and fellow team-mates Garry Cook, Todd Bennett and Philip Brown took the bronze medal in a time of 3:03.53, finishing behind the Soviet Union and West Germany.

Career Personal Bests:  200m - 20.42 (1979);   400m - 46.15 (1975).

References, notes and external links.

http://www.olympics.org.uk/athleterecord.aspx?at=457

http://www.flotrack.org/articles/view/351-paul-ocallaghan-aspire-running

http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/be/ainsley-bennett-1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_World_Championships_in_Athletics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_4_x_400_metres_relay

http://www.sportinglife.com/athletics/worldathletics2005/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=others/05/07/15/ATHLETICS_World_Medals.html