Jared Connaughton

Biography

He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The son of Susan and Neal Connaughton and resident of New Haven, Prince Edward Island. Connaughton is a sprinter who attends and competes in the NCAA at The University of Texas at Arlington, which is part of the Southland Conference.

Connaughton was victorious in both the 100m and 200m events at the 2005 Canada Summer Games in August 2005. The Canada Games were hosted by Regina, Saskatchewan. He was the first Prince Edward Island native to win two Gold Medals at one set of Canada Games and first Gold Medalist since 1969.

Connaughton was named the 2006 Southland Conference Track and Field athlete of the year both indoors, outdoors and indoors. In the 60m semi final at the Southland Conference championships, he set a new meet and conference record of 6.68 seconds. In the final he stumbled badly and was defeated by Ravyn Hayward of Northwestern State University 6.80sec to 6.85sec. Later in the 200 meter final, Connaughton set a new Championship meet record with a time of 21.57 seconds at the 200m flat track at the University of Houston, breaking the previous record set by JD Henry of Northwestern State in 2005 with a time of 21.64 seconds. Connaughton later went on to compete in the 60m dash at the NCAA indoor championship meet at the University of Arkansas and finished with a time of 6.78 seconds.

In the 2006 outdoor season he ran a time of 20.59w (2.1) seconds at the Arlington Invitational. He then ran a season and personal best of 10.28 (1.7w) seconds at the Texas Christian University invitational in early May. He finished 3rd in the 200m at the Drake Relays with a time of 21.10 into a headwind of 1.1 m/s behind World and Olympic Champion Jeremy Wariner and Jamaican Richardo Williams.

Connaughton won both the 100m and 200m at the Southland Conference championships with times of 10.33 seconds and 20.90 seconds and was named outstanding athlete of the year in the Southland Conference. Later at the NCAA Mid-West Regional Championships, Connaughton ran to a new personal best in the 200m with a time of 20.70 seconds (1.9w). In the final, Jared finished 3rd with a wind aided time of 20.67 seconds behind Churandy Martina of UTEP and Carey Lacour of the University of Houston. He competed at the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, California and ran a time of 21.27 seconds (−1.7w).

Connaughton competed for the Team Canada at the 2006 NACAC U-23 championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He finished 8th in the 100m and in the bronze medal spot in the 200m. After suffering a lower abdominal strain, he went on to finish 2nd at the Canadian Championship meet hosted by Ottawa. He ran to a time of 21.07 in the semi final and 21.16 seconds in the final behind Bryan Barnett of Edmonton, who ran to a personal best of 20.70 seconds.

Connaughton is the 2008 Canadian National Champion in the 200m Sprint with a Championship Record and Personal Best time of 20.34 (+0.4 m/s) seconds. He achieved this on July 6, 2008 in Windsor, Ontario. The previous Championship record was 20.40 seconds run by Atlee Mahorn in 1986. Mahorn still has the Canadian Record of 20.13 seconds.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Connaughton competed in the 200m and 4 × 100 m relay for Canada. His team placed 6th in the relay finals and Connaughton placed 14th in the 200m Semifinal competition.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Connaughton competed in the 200m and 4 × 100 m relay for Canada. His team crossed the finish line 3rd in the 4X100 final, but they lost the bronze medal five minutes later when they were disqualified due to a lane violation committed by Connaughton.

On August 29, 2014, Connaughton officially announced his retirement from the sport.