 Ben St Lawrence (in yellow) at the 2012 Summer Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 7 November 1981 Penrith, New South Wales, Australia |
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
| Event(s) | 5,000 metres 10,000 metres |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 5,000 metres: 13:10.08 10,000 metres: 27:24.95[2] |
Ben St Lawrence (born 7 November 1981) is an Australian long-distance runner who specialises in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.[2] He is the former Australian and Oceanian record holder in the 10,000 metres.[3] St Lawrence competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[4] St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000 metres in both instances.[4] He has also qualified for two World Championships, two World Cross Country Championships and two Commonwealth Games.[5]
St Lawrence's debut at an international athletics competition was at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships where he competed in the senior men's race; finishing 126th in at time 39 minutes and two seconds.[5][6] He then competed in the 2010 Notturna di Milano 3,000 meter race, placing 7th with 7 minutes and 42 seconds.[7] Later in the year, he competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and finished 7th in both the 5,000 metres and the 10,000 metres.[5]
At the 2011 World Championships St Lawrence competed in the 5000 metres and finished 11th in his heat and therefore did not progress to the final.[5] Also in 2011 was the World Cross Country Championships where St Lawrence finished 60th, 66 places better than his previous World Cross Country Championships.[5]
For the 2012 Summer Olympics, St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000 metres on the first day of the qualification window.[4] At the Olympics, he finished 20th in his race. St Lawrence's next major competition was the 2013 World Championships where he competed in both the 5,000 metres and the 10,000 metres.[5] In the 5,000 metres he finished 18th in his heat and didn't progress to the final and in the 10,000 metres he reached the final before withdrawing.[5]
He competed in his 2nd Commonwealth Games in the 2014 edition.[5] He reached the final of the 10,000 metres and finished 16th.[5] St Lawrence qualified for the 10,000 metres for the 2016 Summer Olympics in May 2015 at the athletics track in Palo Alto, California; the same track on which he qualified for the 2012 Olympics.[4]
Domestically, St Lawrence has won six Australian titles; five at the track and field championships and one at the road running-championships. At the most recent track and field championships in 2016 St Lawrence finished 3rd in the 5,000 metres.[5]
