Ikem G Billy (born 25 January 1964) is a British former middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. He was the bronze medallist at the 1985 IAAF World Indoor Games and a silver medallist at the 1989 Summer Universiade. He was a two-time national champion, with one win outdoors and one indoors. He represented his country at the IAAF World Indoor Championships on two occasions and England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | English | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 January 1964 Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK | ||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
editBilly grew in the Wirral and took up running at an early age, first representing England at the age of thirteen.[1] His first success came at the 1983 European Athletics Junior Championships, where he won the 800 m gold medal.[2] He was the English schools champion and AAA Indoor Junior champion over 800 m that same year.[3][4]
His major senior debut followed at the 1984 European Athletics Indoor Championships, where he narrowly missed a medal in fourth place behind fellow Briton Phil Norgate.[5][6] He achieved his personal best of 1:44.65 minutes that year, but was overlooked for the British Olympic team for the 1984 Los Angeles Games.[7] His first national title followed at the 1985 AAA Indoor Championships and his form continued to the 1985 IAAF World Indoor Games, taking a bronze medal at the inaugural event.[8][9] He injured himself in 1986, which disrupted his career for a two and half years.[1]
He made his return to senior athletics with sixth place finishes at the 1988 European Athletics Indoor Championships and the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships.[6] He took his first and only career title at the AAA Championships in 1989, and was also the British Universities champion over 400 metres.[10][11] He represented Great Britain at the Universiade and claimed the silver medal behind Finland's Ari Suhonen.[12]
Billy defeated Coe at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, but was still out of the medals in fifth place.[13] The last major outing of Billy's career was the 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships but he was far from his best form, being eliminated in the heats with a time of 1:49.09 minutes.[14]
International competitions
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | European Junior Championships | Schwechat, Austria | 1st | 800 m | 1:47.15 |
| 1984 | European Indoor Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 4th | 800 m | 1:48.41 |
| 1985 | World Indoor Games | Paris, France | 3rd | 800 m | 1:48.28 |
| 1988 | European Indoor Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 6th | 800 m | 1:50.36 |
| 1989 | World Indoor Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 6th | 800 m | 1:48.97 |
| Universiade | Duisburg, Germany | 2nd | 800 m | 1:47.29 | |
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 5th | 800 m | 1:47.16 |
| 1991 | World Indoor Championships | Seville, Spain | 10th (h) | 800 m | 1:49.09 |
National titles
edit- AAA Championships
- 800 m: 1989[10]
- AAA Indoor Championships
- 800 m: 1985[8]
- British Universities Athletics Championships
- 400 m: 1989[11]
- English Schools' Athletics Championships
- 800 m: 1983[3]
- AAA Junior Indoor Championships
- 800 m: 1983[4]
References
edit- ^ a b Ikem Billy – European Junior Champion. Wirral AC (July 2015). Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ European Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ a b English Schools Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ a b AAA Junior Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ European Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ a b Ikem Billy. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ Ikem Billy. Power of 10. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ a b AAA Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ World Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ a b AAA Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ a b British Universities Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ World Student Games (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
- ^ Seb Coe's last race was fixed so he could win, says runner who took $10,000 to lose. Herald Scotland (2012-12-20). Retrieved on 2016-02-14. Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ikem Billy. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-02-14.
