 Chambers at the 2009Meeting Areva | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men'sathletics | ||
Representing Jamaica | ||
| Continental Cup | ||
 | 2010 Split | 400 m |
Ricardo Chambers (born 7 October 1984) is aJamaicantrack and field athlete who specialises in the400 metres.
Hailing fromTrelawny Parish in Jamaica, he moved to theUnited States to study on asports scholarship atFlorida State University. Competing for theFlorida State Seminoles, he won thesilver medal over 400 m at the 2006NCAA Championships, breaking the FSU record with a run of 44.71 seconds.[1]
He enjoyed success at theNACAC Under-23 Championships later that year, setting a championship record of 45.09 seconds to win the 400 m and anchoring the Jamaican4×400 metres relay team ofHuntley Thomas,Leford Green andBryan Steele to a second gold medal and record.[2] He represented Jamaica at the2006 Central American and Caribbean Games. He was fifth in the 400 m, easily beaten byYeimer Lopez, but finished the competition on a high by winning the relay gold withSanjay Ayre, Green and Steele, running a Games record of 3:01.78.[3][4]
Chambers turned professional for the 2007 season and competed at the2007 World Championships in Athletics. He made it to the semi-finals of the individual 400 m, but greater success came in the relay, as he took fourth place in the final for Jamaica. His next major competition was the2008 Summer Olympics. He again was a semi-finalist in the men's 400 metres, but the Jamaican relay team performed poorly in the event final, failing to match their time from the heats and finishing in last place. He was the Jamaican champion the following year, but his third global appearance – at the2009 World Championships in Athletics – held similar results; he finished third in his semi-final and was eliminated in the heats in the relay.[5]
In the 2010 season he competed at theWorld Indoor Championships for the first time. He was a 400 m semifinalist but an injury to Ayre in the relay meant the Jamaican relay team did not finish.[6] He improved his personal best to 44.54 seconds with a run at theHerculis meeting inMonaco, finishing second behind compatriotJermaine Gonzales.[7] He was selected to represent the Americas team over 400 m at the2010 IAAF Continental Cup and he won his first medal at a global competition. He ran near his personal best, recording 44.59 seconds, to take thesilver medal behind his teammateJeremy Wariner.[8] He closed the competition by running the anchor leg of the relay for the Americas team which won in a championship record of 2:59.00, breaking the USA's 29-year-old mark.[9]
