Ben Rushgrove
Sport/Event >
Track & field athletics, Disability T36 100m and 200m
Date and Place of Birth >
1988, Bath
Coached by >
Rob Ellchuk
Course of Study >
BSc (Hons) in Sports Performance (graduated 2009)
Club >
City of Bath AC
Team Bath
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’s career highlight was achieving a silver medal in 100m in Beijing Paralympic Games 2008.
He was voted as University of Bath Sports Personality of the Year 2009.Ben graduated in December 2009 with a Batchelor’s degree, BSc (Hons) in Sports Performance at the University of Bath.
Headline Result >
Silver – 100m T36 – Paralympic Games, Beijing – August 2008
McCains Power of 10 Athlete Profile >
