Sport/Event >
Track & field athletics, Disability T36 100m and 200m

Date and Place of Birth >
23rd February 1988, Bath

Coached by >
Rob Ellchuk

Club >
City of Bath AC, TeamBath  

Occupation >
Student

Biography >
Ben Rushgrove is a talented teenage sprinter. Ben has cerebral palsy and competes in T36 classification disability events.

He represented Great Britain at the 2005 Open European Athletics Championships in Espoo, Finland, where he reached both the T36 100m and 200m finals. Ben finished sixth over 200m, setting a pb of 26.74 seconds, and was seventh in the 100m.

Ben was in sparkling form in 2006, regularly breaking his 100m pb and taking almost a second off his 200m pb. He had to settle for a brace of silver medals in the T36 100m and 200m at the CP Sport National Championships in July 2006, finishing behind Athens 2004 Paralympic Games bronze medallist Graeme Ballard. But Ben had the consolation of setting a CP Sport under–20 age group record of 26.1 seconds in the 200m.

In September 2006 he competed at his first International Paralympic Committee World Championships, which took place in Assen in the Netherlands. Ben set a European record of 12.41 seconds in the semi-finals of the 100m but then suffered the disappointment of being controversially disqualified from the final on a technicality.

But he showed great strength of character to win bronze in the T36 200m final two days later - his first senior international medal. Ben signalled his intentions with a personal best 25.65 in the semis - the fastest semi-final time. He slashed his pb further in the final to take bronze in 25.44 seconds.

Ben began to study for a Foundation Degree in Sports Performance at the University of Bath in October 2006.

Competitive Record >
Cerebral Palsy World Championships: 4th T36 100m, 4th T36 200m – Connecticut, USA - July 2005

Open European Championships: 6th T36 200m, 7th T36 100m - Espoo, Finland – August 2006

British Open Athletics Champs: silver T36 100m, gold T36 200m – Manchester - June 2006

CP Sport Grand Prix: gold T36 100m, gold T36 200m – Stoke Mandeville, Bucks – July 2006

CP Sport National Championships: silver T36 100m, silver T36 200m – Nottingham – July 2006

IPC World Championships: finallist T36 100m - Assen, September 2006 (European record of 12.41 seconds in semi-final)

IPC World Championships: bronze T36 200m - personal best 25.44 seconds - Assen, September 2006

3rd at the World Champs in the 200m 2006

Broke the 200m world record for my classification 2007

Silver Medal in 100m in Beijing Olympic Games 2008