Ryan Brathwaite (born June 6, 1988)[1] is a track and field athlete from Barbados who won the gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.[2] In recognition of his achievements, on September 17, 2009 Brathwaite was given the honour of being an ambassador while formally receiving the title Ambassador His Excellency Ryan Brathwaite.[3][better source needed]

Ryan Brathwaite
Personal information
Nationality Barbados
Born (1988-06-06) June 6, 1988 (age 36)
Hillaby, St. Andrew
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
SportRunning
Event110 metres hurdles
College teamBarton County Community College
Achievements and titles
Personal best110 m h: 13.14 s (Berlin 2009)
Medal record
Representing  Barbados
Men's athletics
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Berlin 110 m hurdles
Central American and Caribbean Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Mayagüez 110 m hurdles
CAC Championships
Silver medal – second place 2009 Havanna 110 m hurdles
NACAC U-23 Championships
Silver medal – second place 2010 Miramar 110 m hurdles
Pan American Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2007 São Paulo 110 m hurdles
CAC Junior Championships (U20)
Gold medal – first place 2006 Port of Spain 110 m hurdles
CARIFTA Games
Junior (U20)
Gold medal – first place 2006 Les Abymes 110 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place 2007 Providenciales 110 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place 2005 Bacolet, Tobago 110 m hurdles
World Youth Championships
Silver medal – second place 2005 Marrakesh 110 m hurdles
CAC Junior Championships (U17)
Gold medal – first place 2004 Coatzacoalcos 100 m hurdles
Updated on 22 January 2015

He is from the Hillaby district in the parish of St. Andrew. Although he shares a birthplace, surname and speciality with Shane Brathwaite, the two are not related.[4][5]

Career

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He first ran on the world stage at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics, taking the silver medal in the 110 meter hurdles. More success came in regional competition when he won the 2006 CAC Junior Championships. He competed as a senior athlete at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and he reached the sprint hurdles semi-finals. He also represented Barbados at the 2007 Pan American Games where he finished in fourth place.

Brathwaite set a national record at the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, winning his heat in a time of 13.49 seconds and finishing fourth in the final.[6] He improved this further at the 2008 Summer Olympics, running 13.38 seconds in the heats. He made it through to the Olympic semi-finals before being knocked out.

He broke a championship record the following year at the 2009 CAC Championships, which he achieved in the semi-finals. However, he was beaten in the final by the reigning Olympic champion Dayron Robles. At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, neither Robles nor the defending world champion Liu Xiang were present for the final as they withdrew due to injury. Brathwaite took advantage of this, setting a new best of 13.18 in the semi-finals, and he improved to 13.14 to win the gold and become the 2009 world champion. At 21 years old, he was the youngest ever champion for the event.[7] After the gold medal, he won at the Memorial Van Damme meeting and closed a successful year with another gold at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final.

Personal bests

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Event Result Venue Date
Outdoor
110 m hurdles 13.14 s (wind: +0.1 m/s)   Berlin 20 Aug 2009
Indoor
60 m hurdles 7.61 s   New York, New York 29 Jan 2010

Achievements

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing   Barbados
2004 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17) Coatzacoalcos, México 7th (h) 100 m 11.71 s (wind: +1.1 m/s)
1st 100 m hurdles (91.4 cm) 13.20 s w (wind: +2.5 m/s)
2005 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Bacolet, Trinidad and Tobago 2nd 110 m hurdles (106.7 cm) 14.64 s (wind: -0.7 m/s)
World Youth Championships Marrakech, Morocco 2nd 110 m hurdles (91.4 cm) 13.44 s (wind: +1.1 m/s)
Pan American Junior Championships Windsor, Ontario, Canada 5th 110m hurdles (106.7 cm) 14.79 (wind: -1.6 m/s)
2006 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Les Abymes, Guadeloupe 1st 110 m hurdles (99.0 cm) 13.85 s CR (wind: -1.4 m/s)
Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 1st 110 m hurdles (99.0 cm) 13.69 s CR (wind: +1.6 m/s)
World Junior Championships Beijing, China 110m hurdles (99.0 cm) DQ
2007 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands 1st 110 m hurdles (99.0 cm) 13.42 s CR (wind: +0.2 m/s)
ALBA Games Caracas, Venezuela 2nd 110 m hurdles 13.91 s (wind: +0.6 m/s)
Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4th 110 m hurdles 13.70 s (wind: +0.4 m/s)
World Championships Osaka, Japan 24th (sf) 110 m hurdles 13.87 s (wind: -0.3 m/s)
Pan American Junior Championships São Paulo, Brazil 3rd 110m hurdles (99.0 cm) 13.61 (wind: +0.9 m/s)
2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships Cali, Colombia 4th 110 m hurdles 13.66 s w (wind: +2.3 m/s)
NACAC Under-23 Championships Toluca, México 2nd 110m hurdles 13.50 (wind: -1.0 m/s) A
Olympic Games Beijing, China 7th (sf) 110 m hurdles 13.59 s (wind: -0.4 m/s)
2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships La Habana, Cuba 2nd 110 m hurdles 13.31 s w (wind: +2.5 m/s)
World Championships Berlin, Germany 1st 110 m hurdles 13.14 s (wind: +0.1 m/s) NR
World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 1st 110m hurdles 13.16 (wind: -0.3 m/s)
2010 NACAC Under-23 Championships Miramar, Florida, United States 2nd 110 m hurdles 13.10 s w (wind: +3.1 m/s)
Central American and Caribbean Games Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 1st 110 m hurdles 13.39 s
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 18th (h) 110 m hurdles 13.57 s (wind: +1.0 m/s)
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 5th 110 m hurdles 13.40 s
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 14th (sf) 110m hurdles 13.64 (wind: -0.3 m/s)
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 5th 110m hurdles 13.63 (wind: -0.3 m/s)
Pan American Sports Festival Ciudad de México, México 1st 110m hurdles 13.41 A (wind: -0.1 m/s)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ iaaf.org - Athletes - Brathwaite Ryan Biography
  2. ^ Associated Press, "Brathwaite wins men's 110-meter hurdles at worlds", Aug. 20, 2009[dead link]
  3. ^ "Ryan Brathwaite, Bajan Athlete hurdling his way to the London 2012 Olympics". thecaribbeancurrent.com. 2012-04-21. Archived from the original on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  4. ^ Arcoleo, Laura (2007-07-13). Brathwaite is Barbados first World champion. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-07-11.
  5. ^ Brathwaite follows tradition of top hurdlers. Lubbock Online (2012-05-23). Retrieved on 2014-07-11.
  6. ^ Campeonato CAC de Atletismo 2008. AthleCAC. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
  7. ^ Arcoleo, Laura (2009-08-20). ‘More to come’ from hurdles surprise Brathwaite Archived 2009-08-26 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
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Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for   Barbados
London 2012
Succeeded by
  NODES
COMMUNITY 1
Note 2