User:Penge Semaj/sandbox

James Alaka (born September 8, 1989) is a British former sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He was a NCAA Second Team All-American while at the University of Washington. He won a gold and silver medal in the 100 metres and 200 metres respectively at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships in Ostrava.

Collegiate and International track and field career
Alaka attended the University of Washington from January 2010 until his graduation in March 2014. He was a member of the schools Track and Field team from 2010-2013.

As a sophomore, Alaka won the 100m and 200m at the Pac 10 championships before repeating as 200m Pac 12 champion in 2012, as a Junior, at Hayward Field. This achievement meant he was the last ever Pac 10 200 metre champion and first ever Pac 12 200 metre champion. Despite making a sprint final at the conference championships in all four of his years as a Husky, James never made a final at the NCAA Track and Field Championship.

In 2011, he competed at the European Athletics U23 championships, where he won a gold medal in the 100m (10.45 seconds) and a silver medal in the 200m (20.60 seconds). In 2012, he ran the 200m Olympic Qualifying standard time of 20.45 seconds, topping the British rankings going into the Olympic Trials. He was perfectly positioned to battle for a place on the British Olympic team before a grade 3 hamstring tear ended his hopes in the preliminary round.

Personal bests

 * All information from Powerof10 Profile