Jason Stewart (athlete)

Jason Stewart

Jason Stewart (center) at the 2005 World Athletics Championships
Personal information
Born	21 November 1981 (1981-11-21) (age 35) Napier, New Zealand
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	250 kg (550 lb)
Sport
Sport	Middle-distance running
Club	Napier

Jason Stewart (born 21 November 1981) is a New Zealand middle-distance runner.

Junior years

Stewart set a national junior record holder running a time of 1:48.73 in Papakura, Auckland, on 26 January 2000. He later went on to finish in 7th position at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Santiago, Chile, the same year.^[1]

Senior achievements

In 2004 Stewart ran a time of 1:46.28 in Kassel, Germany, to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics. He competed in the 3rd heat of the 800 meters event and finished 5th, setting a personal best at 1:46.24. This time was the 18th fastest in the qualifiers out of 72 entered athletes, but he missed the semi-finals by 0.34 seconds due to qualification rules.^[2]

In 2005 Stewart represented New Zealand at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland. He finished 4th in his heat behind reigning Olympic Champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy, reigning world champion Djabir Saïd-Guerni and reigning African champion William Yiampoy, 0.21 seconds separating the first four. He also failed to qualify for the semi-final. In 2005 Stewart's had a series of sub 1:47 finishes, set his all-time personal best (at 1:46.19 in Heusden-Zolder, on 23 July 2005),^[1] and won the IAAF GPII 800 meters race in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.

In 2006, Stewart represented both New Zealand at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and Oceania at the IAAF World Cup in Athens. He placed 5th in the Melbourne final running 1:47.74 in the heat and 1:47.71 in the final,^[1] which was won by Alex Kipchirchir in 1:45.88. At the IAAF World Cup Stewart finished 8th in 1:49.01.^[1]

Stewart competed seven years on the European circuit running for both LAC Quelle and LG Regensburg athletics clubs in Germany. He achieved his highest world ranking of 32 in the men's 800 meters in July 2006. He also competed as a pacemaker at many top meetings in Europe over 800 and 1500 meters. He is the 6th fastest New Zealand 800 meters runner of all time, and in terms of major championship performances is behind only Peter Snell and John Walker. He has won two national titles over 800 meters (2002 and 2006) and was never beaten at the either the National Championships or National Schools Championships at any age level in the 800 meters.

References