Iwan Thomas

Iwan Gwyn Thomas (born 5 January 1974) is a Welsh sprinter who represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in the 400 metres, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is a former European, Commonwealth Games and World 4 × 400 metres relay champion. Thomas is the former UK 400 m record holder, with his time of 44.36s set in Birmingham on 13 July 1997 standing until Matthew Hudson-Smith broke the record in May 2022. He was also a member of the team which held the European 4 × 400 m relay record of 2:56.60, set in Atlanta, USA in the Olympic final on 3 August 1996 until it was broken at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Thomas's coach for much of his running career was Mike Smith, who was also formerly coach to British 400 m runners Roger Black, Todd Bennett, Paul Harmsworth and 400 m hurdler Kriss Akabusi. Smith died in 2017. Thomas was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998.