Roger Black

Roger Anthony Black (born March 31, 1966) is a former Olympic athlete and now works as a television presenter and motivational speaker.

Related Topics:
March 31 - 1966 - Olympic - Athlete - Television presenter - Motivation

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Born in Portsmouth, England, he attended Portsmouth Grammar School. Roger has a collection of fifteen medals from major senior athletics competitions to add to his two European junior championship gold medals.

Related Topics:
Portsmouth - England - Portsmouth Grammar School - Europe - Gold medal

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He set the national 400 metre record of 44.37 seconds on July 3, 1996 in Lausanne, Switzerland but that was subsequently broken a year later by Iwan Thomas who shaved 0.01s from Roger's time. Black was also part of the British 4*400 relay team which upset the heavy favourites USA to win the gold medal in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo.

Related Topics:
Metre - Second - July 3 - 1996 - Lausanne - Switzerland - Iwan Thomas

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His greatest achievement in track and field undoubtably was in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when in the final of the 400m he finished in a very brave second place behind Michael Johnson, winning the silver medal in the process, which was absolutely no disgrace. However due to a string of injuries and ill fortune he never rediscovered the form which won him the sliver medal in Atlanta and subsequently retired from the sport only two years later in 1998, after winning another silver medal in the 1997 World Championships 4*400 relay.

Related Topics:
1996 Olympics - Michael Johnson - 1998

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In 1995 Southampton University gave Roger an honorary degree and he was also rewarded by Queen Elizabeth II with an MBE.

Related Topics:
1995 - Southampton University - Honorary degree - Queen Elizabeth II - MBE

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Roger has worked regularly for the BBC on programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Grandstand. In 2004, he was one of the celebrities that took part in the pro-am dancing contest Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One.

Related Topics:
BBC - Tomorrow's World - Grandstand - 2004 - Strictly Come Dancing - BBC One

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