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Since the inauguration of the Club we had been looking to fill the post of an Honorary President but wanted a special person who would represent all that is good about Junior Athletics and following enquiries and discussions we had in early 2007 we were able to announce in March 2007 that Jason Gardener M.B.E had agreed to be our HONORARY PRESIDENT . It is worth waiting for the best !
Well now it's official and Mendip AC are pleased and very proud that Jason Gardener MBE has agreed to be our Honorary Club President. He is a European, Commonwealth and Olympic medal winner and is a natural role model for any young athlete . His record and achievements are too numerous to mention here, but he is still the best having recently won his 4th successive gold in the European 60m Indoor championships. He started his athletic career in much the same way as many of our own junior athletes and is still with his original Club, Wessex and Bath AC. We welcome him to Mendip AC and hope it will not be too long before we see him at Millfield.You can find more about Jason on the following sites:
31.5.07..................Jason Gardener, our Club President had his first competitive 100m in Belgrade on Wednesday, to clock 10.28, in 5th place, the winner being world record holdfer, Asafa Powell who ran the fastest this year in 9.97 !
31/7/07....................
Mendip AC's club President Jason Gardener came within a stride of winning a
bronze medal at the Norwich Union World Trials at Manchester at the weekend
in the 100m sprint. After winning his heat in 10.49 and finishing second in
his semi-final with 10.44 Jason finished the final with a 10.47 clocking,
behind Marlon Devenish who completed a sprint double with 10.31, junior star
and training partner Craig Pickering (10.32) and Mark Lewis-Francis (10.39).
Jason must now wait to see if he will again be picked to represent the UK
team at the world championships where, last time out he was part of the
medal winning relay team.
13/8/07....................
Jason Gardener ran his last 100m on home soil at Crystal Palace on Friday after deciding to quit outdoor athletics at the end of the summer. Our 31-year-old HonoraryPresident failed to make it through to the final after finishing fourth in his heat in 10.41 seconds. There is still an outside chance Gardener could be selected for the World Championship relay squad.
"There's no way I'd want to go unless I can give a good performance for the team," Gardener told BBC
Sport.
Interview: British sprint star Jason Gardener
"At the end of the season that will be it finished. I don't want to put up with the injuries anymore. I've made a decision and have got to the end of the road in athletics, the time is right to move into another direction."
The four-time European Indoor 60m champion had planned to run at next year's Olympics but has decided to bow out early after an injury-hit summer. Jason, who has not broken 10 seconds since running 9.98 seconds in 1999, said earlier: "The event has moved on. I'm out of my depth having to chase 9.7 - I have to accept it."
The sprinter, nicknamed the 'Bath Bullet' for his indoor exploits, was also fourth in the national trials for this month's World Championships in Osaka. The pinnacle of Gardener's career came at the Athens Olympics when he took a brilliant 4x100m gold alongside Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis. Gardener was also one of the British quartet who won bronze at the 2005 World Championships.
His other achievements include a 4 x 100m relay gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and a silver in the same event at the 1999 World Championships.
The father-of-two will take up a marketing position with Bath Rugby Club at the end of the outdoor season and also assist with UK Athletics mentoring programme.
He has not yet made a decision on whether to continue his indoor career.
( with acknowledgements to the BBC website)
We at Mendip AC wish Jason all the best for his future career and we know he will be successful in whatever he decides to do. Hopefully we will get to see him here in Street later this year !
20th August.................
Jason Gardener's farewell party fizzles out
By Tom Knight (Daily Telegraph )
Jason Gardener was given the worst possible send-off last night at Crystal Palace when his team mates contrived to drop the baton in the end-of-meeting relay.
As one of this country's most successful sprinters, the 31 year-old Gardener, who won a relay gold medal at the Athens Olympics, deserved better
for his final appearance in a British meeting before retirement.
Lining up for the Great Britain A team, Gardener did his bit with a perfect handover to Craig Pickering but it was the third changeover that ended in catastrophe and some embarrassment for athletes who have had more practice and funding than any relay team in history. Marlon Devonish was quick to accept the responsibility.
He said: "It was my mistake. The golden rule of relay-running is that you don't turn round and that's what I did." Devonish, who ran the third leg in the team's Olympic triumph, vowed that the British quartet would get it right at the World Championships in Osaka.
Earlier this week, the Olympic relay gold medallist had outlined why the sprint relay should count among the country's best hopes for a gold medal in Osaka.
The likelihood is that Gardener will not be in the team in Osaka, after a night when so many British athletes were found wanting against foreign opposition. The European indoor 60 metre champion failed to qualify for last night's final of the 100m and accepted that his best was no longer good enough at this level.
Gardener, who has struggled to overcome injuries all summer, said: "They want a fit and healthy Jason Gardener going to Osaka and there's no way I want to go if I can't give a good performance for the team because they have a real opportunity to become world champions. I've made a decision that I've come to the end of the road as a competing athlete. It's been a really good career but I want to move in a new direction. I always wanted to win and it looks as if I'm not in that shape now.
"So at the end of the season, that's it, I'm finished. The selectors may want me to go to Osaka but we'll have to wait and see."
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