Mark Rowland

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Mark Rowland

| image =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1963|3|7}}

| birth_place = Watersfield, West Sussex

| medaltemplates =

{{Medal|Country | {{GBR2}} }}

}}

Mark Robert Rowland (born 7 March 1963 in Watersfield, West Sussex, England) is a retired male distance-runner from the United Kingdom, who specialised in the 3000m steeplechase.{{Cite web |title=Athlete Profile |url=https://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=1424 |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=www.thepowerof10.info}}

Athletics career

Rowland came third in the men's men's 3000 m Steeplechase at the 1988 Olympics behind the Kenyan competitors Julius Kariuki (gold) and Peter Koech (silver). His time was 8:07.96 minutes which remains a British record. Rowland became the eighth and, thus far, final British athlete to pick up a medal in the steeplechase event at the Olympics. His post-race interview at the track-side was famous for his quote:

{{cquote| I just kept telling myself to dig, dig, dig—and I did it! I've got a bloody medal!{{Cite web|url=http://blog.strava.com/wow-the-rowlandtempo-9552/|title = WOW: The #RowlandTempo|date = 11 March 2015}}}}

Two years later, Rowland was beaten to the gold in a sprint finish in the same event at the European Championships in Split by the Italian athlete Francesco Panetta. He also represented England in the 5,000 metres event, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/auckland-1990/athletes|title=1990 Athletes|website=Team England}}{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/games/3042/19/all|title=England team in 1990|website=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404120931/https://thecgf.com/results/games/3042/19/all|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/38042|title=Athletes and results|website=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=10 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110142759/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/38042|url-status=dead}}

Coaching career

After retiring, he became a coach to many promising young British steeplechasers and was a steeplechase and middle-distance coach for UK Athletics. While coaching professionally in the United Kingdom, he coached Michael East to his 6th place finish in the 1500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2008, Rowland became head coach of the Oregon Track Club Elite team, where he coached a number of athletes to Olympic and World Championships medals and finalist positions, including British middle-distance runner Jemma Simpson, American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds and distance runner Lauren Fleshman, Botswana middle-distance runner Nijel Amos, Burundian middle-distance runner Francine Niyonsaba, and Kenyan distance runner Sally Kipyego, among others.{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2008/12/former_olympian_to_coach_orego.html|title=Former Olympian to coach Oregon Track Club Elite|last=Laggner|first=Kyle|date=December 15, 2008|work=OregonLive.com|accessdate=29 April 2010}} In 2022, Rowland left Oregon Track Club to become an endurance coach at Athletics Canada's west hub in Victoria, British Columbia.{{cite news|url=https://athletics.ca/blog/2022/07/07/prominent-endurance-coach-mark-rowland-joins-athletics-canada-west-hub/|title=Prominent Endurance Coach Mark Rowland Joins Athletics Canada West Hub|date=July 7, 2022|work=athletics.ca|accessdate=July 5, 2024}}

International competitions

{{AchievementTable\|Event=yes}}
colspan=6\|Representing {{GBR2}} / {{ENG}}
rowspan=2\|1987 \|European Indoor Championships \|Liévin, France \|4th \|3000 m \|7:54.64
World Indoor Championships \|Indianapolis, United States \|4th \|3000 m \|8:04.27
1988 \|Olympic Games \|Seoul, South Korea \|bgcolor=cc9966\|3rd \|3000 m steeplechase \|8:07.96
rowspan=2\|1990 \|Commonwealth Games \|Auckland, New Zealand \|7th \|5000 m \|13:35.69
European Championships \|Split, Yugoslavia \|bgcolor=silver\|2nd \|3000 m steeplechase \|8:13.27
1994 \|European Championships \|Helsinki, Finland \|4th \|3000 m steeplechase \|8:26.00

colspan=6|Representing {{GBR2}} / {{ENG}}

rowspan=2|1987

|European Indoor Championships

|Liévin, France

|4th

|3000 m

|7:54.64

World Indoor Championships

|Indianapolis, United States

|4th

|3000 m

|8:04.27