John Regis (athlete)

John Regis
MBE

Regis in 2012
Personal information
Full name	John Paul Lyndon Regis
Nationality	British
Born	(1966-10-13) 13 October 1966 Lewisham, London
Sport
Sport	Track
Event(s)	100 metres, 4 × 100 metres relay, 200 metres, 400 metres, 4 × 400 metres relay
Medal record Representing Great Britain Men's athletics Olympic Games 1988 Seoul 4 × 100 m relay 1992 Barcelona 4 × 400 m relay World Championships 1991 Tokyo 4 × 400 m relay 1993 Stuttgart 200 m 1993 Stuttgart 4 × 100 m relay 1987 Rome 200 m 1991 Tokyo 4 × 100 m relay World Indoor Championships 1989 Budapest 200 m European Championships 1990 Split 200 m 1990 Split 4 × 400 m relay 1990 Split 4 × 100 m relay 1990 Split 100 m European Indoor Championships 1989 The Hague 200 m 1987 Lieven 200 m European Junior Championships 1985 Cottbus 4 × 100 m relay 1985 Cottbus 100 m Representing England Commonwealth Games 1990 Auckland 4 × 100 m relay 1990 Auckland 200 m 1994 Victoria, B.C. 200 m 1998 Kuala Lumpur 200 m

John Paul Lyndon Regis, MBE (born 13 October 1966) is a British former sprinter. During his career, he won gold medals in the 200 metres at the 1989 World Indoor Championships and the 1990 European Championships, and a silver medal in the distance at the 1993 World Championships.

He was a member of the British teams which won the gold medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1991 World Championships, and the silver medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1988 Olympic Games. Regis was the British 200 metres record-holder, which he set in 1994 until Zharnel Hughes broke the 30-year British record by clocking 19.73 seconds on 23 July 2023.

Career

Regis's most significant successes in individual events came when competing in the 200 metres. He was the first British athlete to run under 20 seconds for the distance, and still held the UK record for the event in 2023 before it was finally broken by Zharnel Hughes. He was an indoor world champion and an outdoor World Championship runner-up at the distance, and also finished sixth in the event at the 1992 Olympic Games.

Regis also achieved considerable success running in relay races, winning major international medals in both the 4 x 100 metres relay and the 4 x 400 metres relay. Most notably, he ran the third leg for the British 4 × 400 m relay team at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, helping them defeat the heavily favoured team from the United States and claim the gold medal. He was also a part of the British 4 × 400 m team in 1990 which set a European Championship record for the event. On 3 March 1991, Regis was a member of the British team which set the world indoor record for the rarely contested 4 x 200 metres with a time of 1:22.11, which has not yet been bettered.

In 2000 Regis and fellow sprinter Marcus Adam were recruited for bobsleigh training with the British team. Adam went on to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Personal life

Growing up, Regis competed for Lewisham at the London Youth Games. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1994 Birthday Honours for services to athletics. In 1989, he opened an all-weather running track at Wellesley Recreation Ground (known as "the Well") in Great Yarmouth.

He was a cousin of former England international footballer Cyrille Regis.

Regis's 15-year-old nephew, Adam Regis, was stabbed to death on Saturday 17 March 2007 in Plaistow, Newham, east London.

Personal bests

• 100 metres – 10.07 sec (Split, Yugoslavia, 28 August 1990)
• 200 metres – 19.87 sec (Sestriere, Italy, 31 July 1994, UK record)
• 400 metres – 45.48 sec (Walnut, California, US, 17 April 1993)

International competition record

Representing Great Britain and England

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	3rd	200 m	20.18
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	38.28
1989	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	200 metres	20.54
	IAAF World Cup	Barcelona, Spain	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	38.34
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	3rd	100 m	10.07 w (wind: +2.2 m/s)
			1st	200 m	20.11 (wind: 0.0 m/s)
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	37.98
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	2:58.22 CR
	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	2nd	200 metres	20.16 w
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	38.67
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	1st	4 × 400 m relay	2:57.53
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	38.09
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	2:59.73
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	2nd	200 m	19.94
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	37.77
1994	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	2nd	200 m	20.25
	IAAF World Cup	London, England	1st	200 m	20.45 (wind: -1.4 m/s)
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	38.46
1998	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	3rd	200 m	20.40

External links

• John Regis at World Athletics
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "John Regis". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009.
• Stellar Group Profile