Stephen Henry Jones (born 4 August 1955) is a Welsh former athlete who set the world record in the marathon in his first completed race at that distance at the Chicago Marathon in 1984, with a time of 2:08:05.
Biography
Jones grew up in Ebbw Vale, and ran his first race at the age of 15 as a member of the Air Training Corps. Dissatisfied with working in a factory as a sewing-machine mechanic, he became an aircraft technician for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1974, and joined the RAF's running team in 1976.
Jones was on the podium three times as the British AAA Championships from 1980 to 1982 before becoming the British 10,000 metres champion after winning the British AAA Championship title at the 1984 AAA Championships.
After receiving an invitation to the 1983 Chicago Marathon Jones began training for that distance; he previously had specialized in the 5,000 and 10,000 m, and on 6 August 1984, he ran the 1984 Olympic 10,000 m event. He finished 8th with a time of 28:28.08.
thumb|left|Steve Jones winning the Swindon (UK) Half Marathon in October 1984
On 21 October 1984, a year after he had dropped out of the Chicago Marathon because of an injury, Jones won the event—his first completed marathon—with a time of 2:08:05, breaking the world record of Australian Robert de Castella by 13 seconds.
In 1986, he won a bronze medal in the 10,000 m at the Commonwealth Games. In the European Championships shortly after, he once again competed in the marathon. Leading from the start and breaking away from the pack, Jones ran a brilliant race up to the 20-mile mark. At that point he was leading by over two minutes and on schedule for another world record. However, he then "hit the wall" and suffered terribly in the final six miles. He slowed to a virtual shuffle, but refused to quit as he watched other competitors catch and pass him. Two years later, in the 1988 New York City Marathon, Jones won by over three minutes with a time of 2:08:20.
He was the first Welsh athlete to appear on the cover of the running magazine Running Times.
Jones was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to sport.
September 2025 a steel statue of Jones was unveiled outside Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre.
Jones lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Achievements
{|
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing and
|-
|rowspan=2|1983
|World Championships
|Helsinki, Finland
|12th
|10,000 m
|28:15.03
|-
|Chicago Marathon
|Chicago, United States
|DNF
|Marathon
| —
|-
|rowspan=3|1984
|World Cross Country Championships
|New York, United States
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|Senior race
|33:32
|-
|Olympic Games
|Los Angeles, United States
|8th
|10,000 m
|28:28.08
|-
|Chicago Marathon
|Chicago, United States
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|Marathon
|2:08:05 WR
|-
|rowspan=2|1985
|London Marathon
|London, United Kingdom
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|Marathon
|2:08:16 CR
|-
|Chicago Marathon
|Chicago, United States
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|Marathon
|2:07:13 CR/NR
|-
|1986
|European Championships
|Stuttgart, West Germany
|20th
|Marathon
|2:22:12
|-
|1986
|Commonwealth Games
|Edinburgh, Scotland
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|10,000 m
|28:02.48
|-
|1987
|Boston Marathon
|Boston, United States
|bgcolor="silver"|2nd
|Marathon
|2:12:37
|-
|1988
|New York City Marathon
|New York, United States
|bgcolor="gold"|1st
|Marathon
|2:08:20 CR
|-
|1990
|Commonwealth Games
|Auckland, New Zealand
|4th
|Marathon
|2:12:44
|-
|1992
|Toronto Shoppers Drug Mart Marathon
|Toronto, Canada
|bgcolor="gold"|1st
|Marathon
|2:10:06
|-
|1993
|World Championships
|Stuttgart, Germany
|13th
|Marathon
|2:20:04
|}
Popular culture
In 2010, a video of Jones overtaking Tanzanian athlete Gidamis Shahanga in the closing 80 metres of a 10000-metre race went viral. The video has been featured in collections of "inspirational sports moments" or "remarkable comebacks".
In the race, Jones was leading from the start with 30-metre margins up until the last 400 metres, at which point commentator David Coleman noted "But they are closing. And of course he [Jones] has got very little finishing speed". With 200 metres remaining, Jones glimpsed back and saw Shahanga, with Coleman saying "Jones looking for trouble and the trouble is there". Shahanga caught Jones with 110 metres remaining, Coleman saying "the African is going to steal the race in the last 80 metres", but Jones fought back, accelerated, and won the race in a time of 27:55.2.
The race was an invitational held in Memorial Van Damme Stadium, Brussels, 1983, and hence not recognised in official competitive records.
References
- Runners World
- The Independent Bio