19 Facts About Roger Black

Roger Anthony Black MBE was born on 31 March 1966 and is an English former athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England.

In 2008, Black joined forces with fellow athlete Steve Backley and founded BackleyBlack LLP.

Roger Black has a collection of fifteen medals from major senior athletics competitions to add to his two European junior championship gold medals.

Roger Black won five national outdoor championships at 400 metres, and one at 200 metres.

Roger Black was born in Gosport, Hampshire, to David and Thelma, with a twin sister Julia.

Roger Black then joined athletics clubs, re-took one of his A-level exams and began studying medicine at the University of Southampton, but he left his course after three months as he had begun to achieve success as an athlete.

In 1986, Roger Black graduated to the senior ranks and made a spectacular impact first winning at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 45.57, and then at the European Championships in Stuttgart, winning in a time of 44.59, his first British Record, breaking Derek Redmond's 44.82 record from the previous year.

Roger Black returned to the track in 1990 and his good form took him to the European Championships again, which were held in Split.

Roger Black later explained the tactics were to put him as first runner to give the team a lead or at least keep the team in close contention.

Roger Black set a new British Record of 44.37 seconds on 3 July 1996 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Roger Black was coached by Mike Smith and Mike Whittingham, and was sponsored by Reebok.

Roger Black, running second leg, tied up and lost ground to his old rival Pettigrew but Jamie Baulch and Mark Richardson held second place round the last two laps.

Roger Black was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1992 New Year Honours for services to athletics.

In 1998, Roger Black appeared on the children's news programme Newsround with fellow athlete Iwan Thomas reporting on childhood obesity.

Roger Black has worked regularly for the BBC on programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Grandstand.

Roger Black was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1999, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at Heathrow Airport.

Roger Black is married to Julia Burgess, with whom he had twin boys George and Max in 2006.

Roger Black has a daughter, Isabelle from his previous marriage to Elsa Devassoigne.

In February 2025, Roger Black revealed he had undergone open heart surgery during the previous month for a condition he was first diagnosed with aged 11 but which had worsened.