Ben St Lawrence (born 7 November 1981) is an Australian long-distance runner who specialises in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.[2] He is the former Australian and Oceanian record holder in the 10,000 metres.[3] St Lawrence competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[4] St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000 metres in both instances.[4] He has also qualified for two World Championships, two World Cross Country Championships and two Commonwealth Games.[5]

Ben St Lawrence
Ben St Lawrence (in yellow) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1981-11-07) 7 November 1981 (age 43)
Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event(s)5,000 metres
10,000 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)5,000 metres: 13:10.08
10,000 metres: 27:24.95[2]

Competition

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St Lawrence's debut at an international athletics competition was at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships where he competed in the senior men's race; finishing 126th in at time 39 minutes and two seconds.[5][6] He then competed in the 2010 Notturna di Milano 3,000 meter race, placing 7th with 7 minutes and 42 seconds.[7] Later in the year, he competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and finished 7th in both the 5,000 metres and the 10,000 metres.[5]

At the 2011 World Championships St Lawrence competed in the 5000 metres and finished 11th in his heat and therefore did not progress to the final.[5] Also in 2011 was the World Cross Country Championships where St Lawrence finished 60th, 66 places better than his previous World Cross Country Championships.[5]

For the 2012 Summer Olympics, St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000 metres on the first day of the qualification window.[4] At the Olympics, he finished 20th in his race. St Lawrence's next major competition was the 2013 World Championships where he competed in both the 5,000 metres and the 10,000 metres.[5] In the 5,000 metres he finished 18th in his heat and didn't progress to the final and in the 10,000 metres he reached the final before withdrawing.[5]

He competed in his 2nd Commonwealth Games in the 2014 edition.[5] He reached the final of the 10,000 metres and finished 16th.[5] St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000 metres for the 2016 Summer Olympics in May 2015 at the athletics track in Palo Alto, California; the same track on which he qualified for the 2012 Olympics.[4]

Domestically, St Lawrence has won six Australian titles; five at the track and field championships and one at the road running-championships. At the most recent track and field championships in 2016 St Lawrence finished 3rd in the 5,000 metres.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Rio 2016 bio". Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b "St Lawrence / Profile". IAAF. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  3. ^ Gordon, Ed (2 May 2011). "Karoki and Kipyego Clock 10,000m World Leads in Palo Alto". IAAF. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ a b c d "Ben St Lawrence / AUS Team / Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ben St Lawrence". athhistory.imgstg.com. Australian Athletics Historical Results. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Results - 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships - Senior Race - men". IAAF. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Track and Field - Notturna di Milano". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 10 September 2010. pp. A9. Retrieved 12 June 2023.