Ryan Brathwaite
Introduction '''Ryan Brathwaite'''  (born June 6, 1988) is a track and field athlete from Barbados who won the gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. In recognition of his achievements, on September 17, 2009 Brathwaite was given the honour of being an ambassador while formally receiving the title Ambassador His Excellency Ryan Brathwaite.He is from the Hillaby district in the parish of St. Andrew. Although he shares a birthplace, surname and speciality with Shane Brathwaite, the two are not related.
Career He first ran on the world stage at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics, taking the silver medal in the 110 meter hurdles. More success came in regional competition when he won the 2006 CAC Junior Championships. He competed as a senior athlete at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and he reached the sprint hurdles semi-finals. He also represented Barbados at the 2007 Pan American Games where he finished in fourth place.Brathwaite set a national record at the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, winning his heat in a time of 13.49 seconds and finishing fourth in the final. He improved this further at the 2008 Summer Olympics, running 13.38 seconds in the heats. He made it through to the Olympic semi-finals before being knocked out.He broke a championship record the following year at the 2009 CAC Championships, which he achieved in the semi-finals. However, he was beaten in the final by the reigning Olympic champion Dayron Robles. At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, neither Robles nor the defending world champion Liu Xiang were present for the final as they withdrew due to injury. Brathwaite took advantage of this, setting a new best of 13.18 in the semi-finals, and he improved to 13.14 to win the gold and become the 2009 world champion. At 21 years old, he was the youngest ever champion for the event. After the gold medal, he won at the Memorial Van Damme meeting and closed a successful year with another gold at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final.
Personal bests Event  Result  Venue  DateOutdoor 110 m hurdles  '''13.14 s''' (wind: +0.1 m/s)   Berlin  20 Aug 2009Indoor 60 m hurdles  '''7.61 s'''   New York, New York  29 Jan 2010
Achievements Representing 2004Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17)Coatzacoalcos, México7th (h)100 m11.71 s (wind: +1.1 m/s)1st100 m hurdles (91.4 cm)13.20 s '''w''' (wind: +2.5 m/s)2005CARIFTA Games (U-20)Bacolet, Trinidad and Tobago2nd110 m hurdles (106.7 cm)14.64 s (wind: -0.7 m/s)World Youth ChampionshipsMarrakech, Morocco2nd110 m hurdles (91.4 cm)13.44 s (wind: +1.1 m/s)Pan American Junior ChampionshipsWindsor, Ontario, Canada5th110m hurdles (106.7 cm)14.79 (wind: -1.6 m/s)2006CARIFTA Games (U-20)Les Abymes, Guadeloupe1st110 m hurdles (99.0 cm)13.85 s '''CR''' (wind: -1.4 m/s)Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20)Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago1st110 m hurdles (99.0 cm)13.69 s '''CR''' (wind: +1.6 m/s)World Junior ChampionshipsBeijing, China —110m hurdles (99.0 cm)DQ2007CARIFTA Games (U-20)Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands1st110 m hurdles (99.0 cm)13.42 s '''CR''' (wind: +0.2 m/s)ALBA GamesCaracas, Venezuela2nd110 m hurdles13.91 s (wind: +0.6 m/s)Pan American GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil4th110 m hurdles13.70 s (wind: +0.4 m/s)World ChampionshipsOsaka, Japan24th (sf)110 m hurdles13.87 s (wind: -0.3 m/s)Pan American Junior ChampionshipsSão Paulo, Brazil3rd110m hurdles (99.0 cm)13.61 (wind: +0.9 m/s)2008Central American and Caribbean ChampionshipsCali, Colombia4th110 m hurdles13.66 s '''w''' (wind: +2.3 m/s)NACAC Under-23 ChampionshipsToluca, México2nd110m hurdles13.50 (wind: -1.0 m/s) '''A'''Olympic GamesBeijing, China7th (sf)110 m hurdles13.59 s (wind: -0.4 m/s)2009Central American and Caribbean ChampionshipsLa Habana, Cuba 2nd110 m hurdles13.31 s '''w''' (wind: +2.5 m/s)World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany 1st110 m hurdles13.14 s (wind: +0.1 m/s) '''NR'''World Athletics FinalThessaloniki, Greece1st110m hurdles13.16 (wind: -0.3 m/s)2010NACAC Under-23 ChampionshipsMiramar, Florida, United States2nd110 m hurdles13.10 s '''w''' (wind: +3.1 m/s)Central American and Caribbean GamesMayagüez, Puerto Rico 1st110 m hurdles13.39 s2011World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea18th (h)110 m hurdles13.57 s (wind: +1.0 m/s)2012Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom5th110 m hurdles13.40 s2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia14th (sf)110m hurdles13.64 (wind: -0.3 m/s)2014Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom5th110m hurdles13.63 (wind: -0.3 m/s)Pan American Sports FestivalCiudad de México, México1st110m hurdles13.41  '''A''' (wind: -0.1 m/s)
See also *Barbados at the Olympics
References
External links **