Mark Rowland

Mark Robert Rowland (born 7 March 1963 in Watersfield, West Sussex, England) is a male retired British track and field athlete, who was a bronze medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

Mark Rowland
Personal information
Born (1963-03-07) 7 March 1963
Watersfield, West Sussex
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
1988 Seoul 3000m Steeplechase
European Championships
1990 Split3000 m steeplechase

Athletics career

Rowland came third in the men's men's 3000 m Steeplechase at the 1988 Olympics behind the Kenyan competitors Julius Kariuki (gold) and Peter Koech (silver). His time was 8:07.96 minutes which remains a British record. Rowland became the eighth and, thus far, final British athlete to pick up a medal in the steeplechase event at the Olympics. His post-race interview at the track-side was famous for his quote:

I just kept telling myself to dig, dig, dig—and I did it! I've got a bloody medal![1]

Two years later, Rowland was beaten to the gold in a sprint finish in the same event at the European Championships in Split by the Italian athlete Francesco Panetta. He also represented England in the 5,000 metres event, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.[2][3][4]

Coaching career

After retiring, he became a coach to many promising young British steeplechasers and was steeplechase and middle-distance coach for UK Athletics. He is now training athletes, including British middle-distance runner Jemma Simpson and American Lauren Fleshman in the USA for the Oregon Track Club Elite.[5]

He also coached Mike East, British 1500m runner to his 6th place at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

International competitions
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Great Britain /  England
1987 World Indoor Championships Indianapolis, United States 4th 3000 m 8:04.27
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 3rd 3000 m steeplechase 8:07.96
1990 Commonwealth Games Auckland, New Zealand 7th 5000 m 13:35.69
European Championships Split, Yugoslavia 2nd 3000 m steeplechase 8:13.27
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 4th 3000 m steeplechase 8:26.00

References
  1. http://blog.strava.com/wow-the-rowlandtempo-9552/
  2. "1990 Athletes". Team England.
  3. "England team in 1990". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  4. "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  5. Laggner, Kyle (December 15, 2008). "Former Olympian to coach Oregon Track Club Elite". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
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