| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Robert de Castella | |||
| Men's Athletics | |||
Competitor for  Australia | |||
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 1983 Helsinki | Marathon | |
| Commonwealth Games | |||
| Gold | 1982 Brisbane | Marathon | |
| Gold | 1986 Edinburgh | Marathon | |
Robert Francois de Castella MBE (born February 27, 1957 in Melbourne, Victoria) was a world champion marathon runner. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF The official results of the Men's Marathon at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Helsinki Finland, held on Sunday August 14, 1983. The Commonwealth Games is a multinational Multi-sport event. Held every four years it involves the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September&mdash9 October 1982 The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland for the second time The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. Events 1560 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 The marathon is a long-distance foot race with an official distance of 42 He is popularly known as "Deek" or "Deeks". His strong marathon performances in 1981-83 made him the favourite for the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics, at a time when Australia had few prospects for Olympic gold. The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, de Castella is of Swiss-Italian decent.
de Castella also held the World best time in the marathon from 1981 to 1984. This is a list of progressive record times for the marathon. The actual distance for the pre-1925 races varied slightly from the present figure of 42 It was not initially known to be a world best time, because his time of 2h 08'18" was 5 seconds more than the time set by Alberto Salazar earlier in 1981 in the New York City Marathon. Alberto Salazar (born August 7 1958 in Cuba) is an American marathon runner of the 1980s The New York City Marathon ( ING New York City Marathon for Sponsorship reasons is a major annual marathon (42 It later emerged that the New York course was about 148 metres short. (See the Alberto Salazar article). Alberto Salazar (born August 7 1958 in Cuba) is an American marathon runner of the 1980s
de Castella lost his family home, along with many of his medals and other citations, in the 2003 Canberra bushfires. The Canberra bushfires of 2003 caused severe damage to the outskirts of Canberra, the Australian capital city He was married to runner Gaylene Clews.
He retired from the sport in 1993 and now lives in Canberra. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Canberra ( is the capital city of Australia With a population of over 340000 it is Australia's largest inland City. From 1990 to 1995 he was the director of the Australian Institute of Sport, and subsequently became executive director of Focus On You. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS leads the development of elite sport and is widely acknowledged in Australia and internationally as a world best practice model for elite athlete He is the co-owner of two cafe bakeries, in Pearce, and the Dickson Centre. Pearce is a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district of Woden. The Dickson Centre, located in the suburb of Dickson, is a group centre in the inner northern suburbs of Canberra. de Castella has been part of a long-running advertising campaign for the multi-vitamin tablet "Centrum".
Achievements in sports
- 1979 - won the Victorian Championship and the Australian marathon title. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar)
- 1980 - 10th in the 1980 Summer Olympics marathon in Moscow. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Moscow in the Soviet Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of
- 1981 - won the Fukuoka Marathon in 2h 08'18" (world record from 1981 to 1984)
- 1982 - won the 1982 Commonwealth Games marathon in Brisbane in 2h 09'18"
- 1983 - won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2h 08'37"
- 1983 - won the 1983 World Championships in Athletics marathon in Helsinki in 2h 10'03" (becoming Australia's first world champion in the sport). Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 The Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship, held in Fukuoka, Japan, is a prominent international marathon race established in 1947 This is a list of progressive record times for the marathon. The actual distance for the pre-1925 races varied slightly from the present figure of 42 Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September&mdash9 October 1982 Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) The Rotterdam Marathon is an annual Marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands since 1981 Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) The inaugural World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Helsinki (in Finnish;) or Helsingfors (in Swedish;) is the Capital and largest city of Finland.
- 1984 - 5th in the Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles
- 1984 - 3rd in the Chicago Marathon in 2h 09'09"
- 1985 - 3rd in the Chicago Marathon in 2h 08'48"
- 1986 - won the 1986 Commonwealth Games marathon in Edinburgh in 2h 10'15"
- 1986 - won the Boston marathon in 2h 07'51"
- 1988 - 4th in the Tokyo Marathon in 2h 08'49"
- 1988 - 8th in the 1988 Summer Olympics marathon in Seoul
- 1991 - won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2h 09'42"
Other awards
- 1983 - awarded the Australian of the Year
References
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Derek Clayton | Men's Marathon World Record Holder December 6, 1981 – October 21, 1984 | Succeeded by Steve Jones |
| Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by Toshihiko Seko | Fukuoka Men's Marathon Winner 1981 | Succeeded by Paul Ballinger |
Preceded by Gerard Nijboer | Men's Fastest Marathon Race 1981 | Succeeded by Alberto Salazar |
Preceded by Rodolfo Gómez | Rotterdam Men's Marathon Winner 1983 | Succeeded by Gidamis Shahanga |
| Preceded by Alberto Salazar | Men's Fastest Marathon Race 1983 | Succeeded by Steve Jones |
| Preceded by Geoff Smith | Boston Men's Marathon Winner 1986 | Succeeded by Toshihiko Seko |
Preceded by Carlos Lopes | Men's Fastest Marathon Race 1986 | Succeeded by Takeyuki Nakayama |
| Preceded by Hiromi Taniguchi | Rotterdam Men's Marathon Winner 1991 | Succeeded by Salvador García |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Sir Edward Williams | Australian of the Year 1983 | Succeeded by Lois O'Donoghue |
| World Champions in Men's Marathon |
|---|
| 1983: Robert de Castella | 1987: Douglas Wakiihuri | 1991: Hiromi Taniguchi | 1993: Mark Plaatjes | 1995: Martín Fiz | 1997: Abel Antón | 1999: Abel Antón | 2001: Gezahegne Abera | 2003: Jaouad Gharib | 2005: Jaouad Gharib | 2007: Luke Kibet |
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