Eugene Amo-Dadzie (born 22 June 1992)[2] is a British athlete who competes as a sprinter. He was a bronze medalist over 60 metres at the 2023 British Indoor Athletics Championships and the 2023 British Athletics Championships.

Eugene Amo-Dadzie
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1992-06-22) 22 June 1992 (age 32)
Ghana[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Eventsprint
Achievements and titles
Personal best60 m: 6.60s (2022)

100 m: 9.93s (2023)

200 m: 21.79s (2019)

Career

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Late starter

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Amo-Dadzie didn’t start competing until he was twenty-six years-old, by which time he was a qualified chartered accountant. He competed at the British Athletics Championships for the first time in 2019, finishing fifth in his semi-final.[3]

A Woodford Green athlete, Amo-Dadzie ran a new personal best time over 100m of 10.20 seconds to finish second at the 2021 British Athletics Championships in Bedford.[4] In August 2022 he lowered his 100m personal best to 10.05 in Stratford. This placed him third over 100m by fastest time by UK athletes in 2022.[5][6]

First British selection

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In February 2023 he finished third behind Reece Prescod and Jeremiah Azu at the British Indoor Athletics Championships 60m race, held in Birmingham.[7] They were subsequently selected for the Great Britain squad for the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships held at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul.[8] He qualified for the semi-finals of the 60m on his major championships debut.[9]

Breaking the ten-second barrier

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On 16 June 2023 he clocked 9.93 seconds for the 100m at a meeting in Graz, Austria to break the 10-second barrier for the first time.[10] In July 2023, competing at the British Championships in Manchester, he reached the final in the 100m and finished third overall.[11]

He was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023, to make his world championship debut at the age of 31[12] He reached the semi-finals of the 100 metres.[13][14] Later that year he was granted UK Sport’s national lottery funded world class programme for the first time.[15]

In April 2024, he was selected as part of the British team for the 2024 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas.[16]

Personal life

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From Rainham, Amo-Dadzie said he felt a responsibility to speak out to encourage BAME people to consider taking the covid-19 vaccine in order to quell concerns they may have. Eugene is married with children.[17] His parents are of Ghanaian heritage and his mother worked as a social carer and his father worked on the London Underground. He has two sisters.[18] After university he began working in accounting; as of 2023 he was working as a senior accountant for a subsidiary of Berkeley Group, St George plc.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Fameso, Funmilayo. "From 9-5 to 9.9: World's fastest accountant signs professional contract with Nike". Pulse Sports. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Eugene Amo-Dadzie". World Athletics. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Its never too late..Eugene Amo-Dazie". athletes.theathleteplace.com. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  4. ^ "ENGLAND SILVER AND P.B. FOR EUGENE AMO-DADZIE, PLUS OTHER T & F NEWS". wgel.org. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Sean Safo-Antwi sets new PB in 100m dash at NEB Track Open". Athleticshour.com. 15 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Be Fit Today Track Academy holds first awards ceremony". Enfield Independent. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  7. ^ "New UK Indoor 60m sprint champions crowned". The Independent. 20 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  8. ^ "GB & NI TEAM SELECTED FOR THE EUROPEAN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS". British Athletics. 22 February 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  9. ^ "CAPTAIN SAWYERS FLIES TO FINAL AS SEVEN MORE BRITS PROGRESS IN ISTANBUL". British Athletics. 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  10. ^ Adams, Tim (16 June 2023). "Eugene Amo-Dadzie: "I call myself the fastest accountant in the world"". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  11. ^ "UK Athletics Championships: Zharnel Hughes and Dina Asher-Smith win 100m titles in Manchester". BBC Sport. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  12. ^ "GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND SQUAD SELECTED FOR THE 2023 WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPS". Britishathletics.org.uk. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Men's 100m Results: World Athletics Championships 2023". Watch Athletics. 19 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  14. ^ a b Ingle, Sean (16 August 2023). "Eugene Amo-Dadzie: the remarkable journey of 'world's fastest accountant'". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  15. ^ Ingle, Sean (24 January 2024). "'I've got no limits': world's fastest accountant sets sights on Olympics". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Ujah returns to British squad for world relays". BBC Sport. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Covid-19: Sprinter urges BAME groups to 'have conversation' about the jab". BBC.co.uk. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  18. ^ Kershaw, Tom. "Eugene Amo-Dadzie: The dope testers didn't want to know me when I was running 10.8sec". The Times. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
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