Jack Green (born 6 October 1991) is a British sprint athlete who specialises in the 400m distance, along with the hurdles and the 4 × 400 m relay. He competed for the Great Britain team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
 Jack Green at the 2012 Summer Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 6 October 1991 Maidstone, Kent, England, UK |
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Great Britain |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay |
| Club | Kent AC |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 400m - 45.99s 400m hurdles - 48.60s 4x400m relay - 44.42s |
Medal record | |
Career
editSince late 2010, Jack Green has trained with Malcolm Arnold at the University of Bath alongside fellow hurdler Dai Greene.[1] At the 2011 World Championships, he finished fifth in his semi-final, a performance he described as "embarrassing, a waste of my time and the team's money", despite finishing where expected.[2]
He also won a gold medal at the 2011 European U23 Championships in the 400m hurdles.[3]
Following his experience at the previous year's World Championships, Green skipped the European Championships in 2012 to concentrate on the Olympics.[1] In May 2012, he won both the 400m and the 400m hurdles at the BUCS Championships which were held at the Olympic Stadium in London.[1] During 2012, he trialled a new technique which involved taking fewer strides. He first tested the technique at the Bislett Games in Oslo, finishing in sixth place after hitting seven out of ten of the hurdles on the course. After the Bislett Games, he spoke to former hurdler Kriss Akabusi who gave him advice as he suffered from similar issues during his career.[4] Green placed second in the 400m hurdles at the British Olympic Trials, behind his training partner and World Champion, Dai Greene.[5]
At the start of July 2012, Green was named to the athletics squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics, to compete in the 400 metres hurdles and 4x400 relay.[6] Two weeks prior to the games, he ran at a meet at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, setting a new personal best in both the 400m and the 400m hurdles, at 45.99 seconds and 48.60 seconds.[7] The media coverage of the event noted the fact that Green had written "CHIN DOWN, FLAT BACK" in capital letters on the inside of his left forearm prior to the 400 metre race.[7]
In the 2012 Olympics, Jack Green was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 400 m hurdles, hitting a hurdle and falling. He performed well in the 4 × 400 metres relay, running 44.42s, as Great Britain finished fourth, just 0.13 seconds outside of a medal.[8]
Having suffered from depression throughout 2012,[9] Green announced in 2013 that, despite a full recovery, he was taking a break from the sport to allow his health to improve further, and leaving the British Athletics high-performance funding programme to do so.[10] In August 2014, Green announced his intention to return to the track for the 2015 season and returned to full-time training in Florida.[11][12][13] He had to miss the 2015 World Championships due to sciatica, but raced at the 2017 World Championships, where as well as the 400 m hurdles, he ran in the heat of the 4 x 400 m relay.[14] In 2018, he finished 4th at the Commonwealth Games.[14]
Green retired from athletics in November 2019.[15] Since then has worked as head of wellbeing at BBC Studios and founded his own wellbeing consultancy, Olywel; in April 2021 he became head of performance of the workplace wellbeing platform Champion Health.[15][16][17]
Personal life
editGreen attended the University of Bath,[18] where he studied Sports Performance.[6] He had previously attended Brockhill Park Performing Arts College.[19]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Hurdler Jack Green learning from training with Dai Greene". BBC Sport. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Dai Greene confident in World Championship bid". BBC Sport. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Second Wave of Athletes Selected For European Under 23 Championships". British Athletics. 2 July 2013. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ Hoad, Alex (14 June 2012). "Jack Green receives advice from hurdles legend Kriss Akabusi as he bids to change technique". Kent Online. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Hurdlers take step closer to London 2012 Olympics". Team Bath. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Six University of Bath-based athletes named in GB team for London 2012". Team Bath. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ a b Leather, Jack (15 July 2012). "Jack Green pens 'chin down, flat back' on his arm before clocking 400m PB". Metro. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Hurdler Jack Green resists temptation to switch to flat". BBC Sport. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ "Jack Green: GB hurdler on depression & the American dream". BBC Sport. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- ^ Hart, Simon (10 December 2013). "Champion hurdler Jack Green to take break from athletics in 2014 after revealing battle with depression". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ Pearce, Byrony (8 August 2014). "Jack Green Reveals Thoughts Behind Florida Relocation". Run Jump Throw. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ O'Donnell, Gerard (22 January 2015). "Jack is Back on Track, Green Light for Hurdle Star". Jumping The Gun. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ Majendie, Matt (7 May 2015). "Jack Green puts demons behind him to get back on track". Independent. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Athletics | Athlete Profile: Jack GREEN - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games". results.gc2018.com. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ a b Jack Green: Ex-Olympian admits embracing vulnerability saved his life in battle with depression Sky Sports. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
- ^ Perspectives: Jack Green, Double Olympian and Founder of Olywel BPS-world.com. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
- ^ Jack Green OLY joins Champion Health Champion Health. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
- ^ "Jack Green – Athletics". Kent Sport. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Hurdle the talk about Jack's medal chances?". this is Kent. 10 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2012.