Lalonde Gordon
Gordon in the 2012 Olympic final
Personal information
Born (1988-11-25) 25 November 1988
Lowlands, Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
EducationMohawk Valley Community College
Morgan State University
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight83 kg (183 lb)
Sport
Country Trinidad and Tobago
SportTrack and field
Event400 metres
ClubZenith Velocity AC[1]
Coached byTrevor Green
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2012 London400  m
Bronze medal – third place2012 London4×400 m relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2017 London4×400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2015 Beijing4×400 m relay
World Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place2012 Istanbul4×400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2016 Portland4×400 m relay
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2014 Glasgow400  m
Bronze medal – third place2014 Glasgow4×400 m relay
CAC Championships
Silver medal – second place2013 Morelia200 m

Lalonde Keida Gordon, HBM (born 25 November 1988) is a Tobagonian male track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics with a personal best of 44.52 seconds. He is the third fastest 400 m runner from his country after Machel Cedenio and Ian Morris.[2]

He took a second Olympic bronze with the 4 × 400 metres relay team in London, setting a national record in the process. He was also part of the Trinidad and Tobago relay teams that won gold at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, bronze at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, silver at the 2011 CAC Championships, and bronze at the 2010 CAC Games.

Career

Born in Lowlands on the island of Tobago,[3] he competed in track and field from an early age. He was named after former WBC light heavyweight champion, Donny Lalonde, who defeated Trinidadian fighter, Leslie Stewart, in a fight held in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 29 May 1988, a few months before he was born. He moved to New York City in the United States at the age of seven,[4] but gave up running as a teenager around 2003. While studying at Mohawk Valley Community College he returned to training in 2009 with the hope of representing the school. He competed in the 200 metres and 400 metres, later choosing to focus on the longer event, despite the fact that he took an initial dislike to it. After leaving Mohawk Valley, Gordon ran for and graduated from Morgan State University.[5][6]

Gordon ran at the 2010 national championships and broke 21 seconds for the 200 m (running 20.96 seconds) and went under 47 seconds in the 400 m, taking second place behind Zwede Hewitt.[7] He teamed up with Hewitt for the 4×400 metres relay at the Central American and Caribbean Games a month later and won a bronze medal.[8] Gordon was chosen to run individually at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and he was a semifinalist with a personal best run of 46.33 seconds.[9] The next season, he had his first win abroad at the Rabat Meeting where he edged William Collazo in a new best of 45.51 seconds.[10] At 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships , he reached the 400 m final and was a silver medallist in the relay.[11] He focused on the shorter sprints at the 2011 Trinidad and Tobago Championships and finished the contest with third place in the 200 m and a win in the 4×100 metres relay.[12]

He started the 2012 season indoors and ran a world-leading time of 46.43 to win the 400 m at the New Balance Games in New York.[13] He was second in his heat at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but was disqualified for a lane infraction.[14] He led off a relay team of Renny Quow, Jereem Richards and Jarrin Solomon which went on to break the national indoor record for the event and take the bronze medal behind the United States and Great Britain.[15] Outdoors, he set three personal bests on New York's Road to London meet series, setting times of 10.45 for the 100 metres and 20.62 for the 200 m in May, before winning the 400 m event in 45.33 seconds in June.[16] At that year's national championships he beat defending champion Quow in the 400 m and helped set a new national record (3:00.45 minutes) in the 4 × 400 m relay.[17]

He was chosen for the relay for the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic team, but did not have an individual place because he had not achieved the Olympic "A" qualifying standard. His mother paid for a flight to the US National Club Championship in Omaha in July and he improved his best with a winning run of 45.02 seconds. Having achieved the "A" standard, he headed to England in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics.[5][6] He marked himself out as a medal contender by winning his semi-final with the fastest qualifying time – an unexpectedly quick best of 44.58 seconds.[18] He bettered that time again to take the bronze medal in 44.52 seconds in the 400 m Olympic final, becoming only the second man from his nation to take an Olympic medal in the event (after Wendell Mottley's silver in 1964).[19] Boosted by his performance, he encouraged the relay team to perform just as well and a team of Gordon, Jarrin Solomon, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Deon Lendore ran a national record of 3:00.38 minutes to win their qualifier.[20] The quartet went even faster in the final and pipped Britain to the bronze medal position with a time of 2:59.40 minutes, becoming the country's second medalling team in the event (again achieved by Mottley at the 1964 Olympics).[21]

He was also part of the Trinidad and Tobago teams that won gold at the 2017 World Championships, silver at the 2015 World Championships , and bronze at the 2016 World Indoor Championships.[22] At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he won two bronzes, in the 400 m and the 4 x 400 m. He ran a personal best in the individual 400 m.[23]

Personal bests

  • 100 metres: 10.45 sec (2012)
  • 200 metres: 20.16 sec (2013)
  • 200 metres (indoor): 20.49 sec (2017)
  • 400 metres: 44.52 (2012)
  • 400 metres (indoor): 45.17 sec (2014)
  • 500 metres (indoor): 1:02.83 min (2012)

References

  1. ↑ "NBC Rio 2016 bio". Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. ↑ 400 Metres All Time. IAAF (2012-08-23). Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  3. ↑ Lalonde Gordon. London2012. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  4. ↑ Kwame, Laurence (2012-08-07). KING OF QUEENS. Trinidad Express. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  5. 1 2 Clarke, Clayton (2012-08-19). Gordon: This is what I wanted all my life. Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  6. 1 2 De Freitas, Kern (2012-08-18). Few knew Lalonde Gordon Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Trinidad Express. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  7. ↑ Kwame, Laurence (2010-06-28). Thompson scores double at Trinidad & Tobago champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  8. ↑ Atletismo Calendario de Deporte[usurped] (in Spanish). Mayaguez 2010. Retrieved on 2010-07-29.
  9. ↑ 400 metres semifinal 3. 2010Delhi. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  10. ↑ Ramsak, Bob (2011-06-05). Three world leads in Rabat, Powell pulls up in 100m – IAAF World Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  11. ↑ 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships Archived 2012-08-01 at archive.today. Fundacion2010. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  12. ↑ Kwame, Laurence (2011-08-14). Thompson clocks 9.85 national record in Port-of-Spain – Trinidad and Tobago Champs - UPDATED: Daegu squad Archived 2012-08-17 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  13. ↑ Gordon favourite for 400 at World Indoor Championships. USportt (2012-01-29). Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Len (2012-03-09). EVENT REPORT - Men's 400 Metres - Heats . IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  15. ↑ Ramsak, Bob (2012-03-11). EVENT REPORT - Men's 4x400 Metres Relay - Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  16. ↑ Lalonde Gordon. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  17. ↑ Kwame, Laurence (2012-06-25). Bledman wins Trinidad and Tobago title in 9.86. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  18. ↑ Ramsak, Bob (2012-08-05). London 2012 - Event Report - Men's 400m Semi-Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  19. ↑ Ramsak, Bob (2012-08-06). London 2012 - Event Report - Men's 400m Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-24.
  20. ↑ Arcoleo, Laura (2012-08-09). London 2012 - Event Report - Men's 4x400m Relay Round One. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-24.
  21. ↑ Arcoleo, Laura (2012-08-10). London 2012 - Event Report - Men's 4x400m Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-25.
  22. ↑ "IAAF: Lalonde Gordon | Profile". iaaf.org. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  23. ↑ "Glasgow 2014 - Lalonde Gordon Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
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