Steven Gardiner

Steven Gardiner is a Bahamian track and field athlete born on 12th September 1995. He hails from Murphy town of Central Aboca in the Bahamas. He specializes in sprinting and represents his country internationally in 400m.

Background:

Steven Gardiner was born to Steven Gardiner Sr. and Theresa Gardiner. He comes from a marginalized family residing at the hilltop of Murphy town in Central Aboca.

At a young age, Gardiner was pursuing an interest in Volleyball as well as track and field. After completing school education, he joined the high school in Central Aboca. He represented his high school team in a school volleyball competition.

While studying in high school, Gardiner switched to full-time track and field athlete in shorter sprints like 100m and 200m. But, his high school coach noticed his height and urged him to choose a 400m sprint because of his 6 ft 4 in tall height. At the behest of his coach, he decided to go for 400m and began to excel well in it.

Steven Gardiner has been training under Gary Evans since 2017.

Rise to Glory:

Under the tutelage of his high school coach, Steven Gardiner began to participate and win medals in junior athletic competitions. In 2013, he competed in his first senior national athletic championships, where he finished 14th in a 400m individual.

In 2014, Gardiner bagged his junior national title in a 4x400m relay at the BAAA National Track and Field Championships. That year, in April, he competed at the CARIFTA Games (Junior) in Martinique, France, where he won a Silver medal in 4x100m and finished 4th in 200m.

In 2016, Steven Gardiner made it to a podium finish with a Gold medal in the 400m individual at the American Track League in Atlanta, Georgia. In June, he won his first senior national title in 400m at the BAAA National Track and Field Championships.

Steven Gardiner is recorded as the 5th fastest-runner in 400 meters with his personal best and national record of 43.48 seconds, just 0.03 seconds behind the joint 4th fastest runners Jeremy Wariner and Michael Norman.

Major Achievements:

Steven Gardiner made his major international debut at the World Junior Athletics Championships in 2014, where he finished 12th in the 200m semi-final and 6th in 4x100m final. In 2015, he won his first senior international medal by clinching a Silver medal in the 4x400m relay at the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas. That year, in August, Gardiner made his World Championships debut in Beijing, China, and finished 16th in the 400m semi-final.

In 2016, Gardiner won his first Olympic medal in his debut by winning Bronze in 4x400m relay by clocking 2:58.49s. The following year, he won his first senior international Gold medal in 4x400m mixed relay at the World Athletics Relays, followed by a Silver medal in 400m at the World Athletics Championships in London.

In 2019, Steven Gardiner was crowned as World Champion in 400m by clocking a national record of 43.48s at the World Athletics Championships.

Steven Gardiner will be competing in his second Olympics at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is one of the top contenders for an Olympic medal in a 400m sprint.