Marlon Devonish
He ran the third leg on the 2004 Olympic 4x100m team that delivered Britain's first sprint relay gold in eighty years, a victory secured on his bend.
Born 1976 (age 50)·English sprinter·Birthday: June 1·Generation X
Biography
Marlon Devonish anchored the bend. His specific mastery of the 4x100m relay's third leg, run on the curve, powered British teams to their most significant medals. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Devonish received the baton in fourth place and handed over a lead to anchor Mark Lewis-Francis. The team won gold in 38.07 seconds, Britain's first Olympic sprint relay title since 1920. He repeated this function at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, where his bend running again created a decisive lead for a gold medal. Devonish competed in three Olympic Games from 2000 to 2008, collecting seven major championship relay medals. His career, spanning 1997 to 2012, provided the technical bedrock for a generation of British sprinting. He closed his career having run more sub-10.20 second 100m races than any other British athlete at the time. The 2004 relay gold remains the last Olympic 4x100m title won by a team not from Jamaica or the United States.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Marlon was born in 1976, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Marlon Was Born
The biggest hits of 1976
#1 Movie
Rocky
Best Picture
Rocky
#1 TV Show
All in the Family
Marlon's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1976Born
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1981Started school
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1989Became a teenager
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1992Could drive
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
1994Could vote
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
1997Turned 21
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2006Turned 30
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 40
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 50
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Olympic 4x100m relay gold medalist, Athens 2004.
- World Championship 4x100m relay gold medalist, Osaka 2007.
- European Championship 4x100m relay gold medalist, Munich 2002.
Did You Know?
He once raced a giraffe and a zebra for a BBC children's television segment.
His first major international medal was a 200m bronze at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
He served as a torchbearer for the 2012 London Olympics in his hometown of Coventry.
“The bend is where relays are won or lost. You have to own it.”
