Iwan Thomas
Inducted 2008
Track
Set a British 400m record of 44.36 seconds in 1997, still the Welsh record. Won four gold medals at major world championships across 29 days in 1998, including the Commonwealth title.
Biography
Iwan Thomas was born in Farnborough and began his competitive career as a BMX racer before transitioning to athletics at age 17. He became one of Britain’s finest 400m runners of the 1990s.
His defining year was 1998, when he won four gold medals at major world championships across just 29 days — including the Commonwealth Games title in Kuala Lumpur — earning him BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year. He had already placed fifth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
In 1997, Thomas set a British 400m record of 44.36 seconds at the UK Championships — a mark that still stands as the Welsh record. He won 11 major medals in total, including two European golds and the Commonwealth title, and was awarded an MBE in 1999.