Alastair Chalmers OLY (born 31 March 2000) is a British track and field hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. He won Guernsey's first-ever Commonwealth Games track and field medal when he took bronze at the 2022 edition and he is a five-time British 400m hurdles champion.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 31 March 2000[1] Guernsey[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
| Event | Hurdling |
| College team | Bath[2] |
| Club | Guernsey |
| Coached by | Matthew Elias[2] |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best |
|
Medal record | |
Athletics career
editChalmers was part of the gold medal-winning Guernsey 4x100 metres relay team at the 2015 Island Games in Jersey.[3] He also received a gold for the 4x400 metres relay having run in the heats but missing out on selection for the final.
He won gold in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2017 Island Games in Gotland,[4] before repeating the feat a month later at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas.[5]
Chalmers came sixth in the 400 metres hurdles and won a bronze medal as part of the Great Britain 4x400 metres relay team at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.[6]
He won his first British 400 metres hurdles title at the 2020 national championships in a time of 49.66 secs.[7][8]
Chalmers reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA.[9]
On 6 August 2022, he won the first-ever track and field medal for Guernsey in the history of the Commonwealth Games when he claimed bronze at the 22nd edition of the event in Birmingham, England.[10][11][12]
In July 2023, Chalmers took more than half a second off the championship record to win the 400m hurdles at the Island Games held in Guernsey.[13][14] He went on to win a second gold of the event in the 4x400 metres relay with the Guernsey team setting another Games record in the process.[15]
At the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy, he set a new Guernsey 400 metres hurdles record but went out in the semi-finals.[16]
Chalmers won his fifth successive British 400 metres hurdles title at the 2024 British Athletics Championships on 30 June 2024, setting a new personal best, and championship record, of 48.54 seconds to put himself in line for a spot at the Paris Olympics.[17][18][19][20][21] His place at the Games was confirmed on 5 July 2024, when Team GB announced their athletics team.[22][23] Chalmers finished third in his heat to qualify for the semi-finals at the Games.[24][25][26] In the semi-finals he hit a hurdle around 150 metres from the finish line and fell to the track, and although he got up to complete the race, he finished eighth and did not progress to the final.[27][28][29]
Personal life
editChalmers gained a degree in Sports Performance from the University of Bath.[12][23] His brother Cameron is also an athlete who has represented Guernsey and Great Britain in international competition.[30][31]
References
edit- ^ a b "Alastair CHALMERS". Birmingham 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Alastair Chalmers". British Athletics. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ^ "Island Games 2015: Guernsey beat Jersey to men's relay golds". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Saaremaa's Paas wins second gold of 2017 Island Games". Inside the Games. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "Gold for Chalmers on brilliant final day for Guernsey in the Bahamas". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "Chalmers in dreamland with more still to come". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "Results list". British Athletics.
- ^ "Guernsey athlete Alastair Chalmers storms to first British title". ITV. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "Alastair Chalmers: Guernsey 400m hurdler makes World Championship semi-finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "Chalmers secures Guernsey's first athletics medal at the Commonwealth Games". ITV. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "Alastair Chalmers creates athletics history for Guernsey". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Birmingham 2022: Bath graduate Alastair Chalmers makes athletics history for Guernsey but netballers miss out on Birmingham 2022 final". Team Bath. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "2023 Island Games: Alastair Chalmers breaks record to take gold medal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "Two Island Games records set in athletics on day three in Guernsey". Inside the Games. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "2023 Island Games: Guernsey and Jersey win athletics relay gold medals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "Heart is broken as well as record". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "Ala earns Paris place despite a false start". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "Guernsey's Alastair Chalmers achieves Olympic qualifying time after dramatic British Championships". ITV. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "Chalmers overjoyed at dramatic Olympic qualification". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ "Guernsey's Alastair Chalmers qualifies for Paris Olympics". Island FM. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ ""Paris, I'm ready": Chalmers secures Olympic spot on a day that turned from disaster to triumph". Bailiwick Express. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "TEAM GB ATHLETICS SQUAD CONFIRMED FOR PARIS 2024". GB Athletics. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ a b "More University of Bath sporting scholars heading to Paris 2024 Olympic Games as judoka and hurdler secure their selections". Team Bath. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ "I wasn't going to leave anything out there - Chalmers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "KNIGHT AND CHALMERS PROGRESS TO HURDLES SEMIS WITH DRAMATIC FINISHES". British Athletics. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "Chalmers hurdles and dives into Olympic semi-finals". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "'That's how it goes' - Chalmers on Olympic Games fall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "'It's been a massive ride': Alastair Chalmers Olympic journey ends after falling in the 400m hurdles". ITV. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "'I am so proud of how far I've come' - Chalmers". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "Cameron and Alastair Chalmers on finding their own paths to the same destination – Tokyo 2020". olympics.com. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "Golden goals as brothers Cameron and Alastair Chalmers take to continental stage for European Athletics Championships". Team Bath. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
