Bralon Taplin (born 8 May 1992) is a Grenadian sprinter.[3]

Bralon Taplin
Bralon Taplin (right) at the 2016 World Indoor Championships
Personal information
Born (1992-05-08) 8 May 1992 (age 32)
St. George's, Grenada[1]
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event400 m
College teamTexas A&M University[2]
Coached byAlleyne Francique

Taplin is currently serving a seven year competition ban due to two separate violations against the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules. His ban is due to expire in September 2026.[4]

Career

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He competed in the 400 metres event at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing without advancing from the first round.

He switched his allegiance from the United States to Grenada in December 2012.[1] Previously he ran for Stony Point High School, winning the Texas state championship in the 400. then spent two years at South Plains College, winning the NJCAA Championship. He completed his college career at Texas A&M University.[2]

In 2016 he represented Grenada at the Rio Olympics and progressed to the final where he eventually placed 7th with a time of 44.45 seconds.

In 2017 he started his season by participating in the IAAF World Indoor Tour. The first event he would take part in as part of the Tour would be the PSD Bank Meeting, held in Düsseldorf, Germany where he finished first in his group[5] but second overall with a time of 46.25.[6] His second race of the Tour was the Copernicus Cup. He not only finished first overall but he also established a new meet record with a time of 45.59 seconds.[7] The third and deciding race of the Tour was the Müller Indoor Grand Prix which took place in Birmingham, England. In this race Bralon placed fourth with a time of 46.38 seconds.[8] The fourth-place finish meant that Bralon would have missed out on the " Wild Card" entry into the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham.[9] Aside from the Tour Bralon set a National record in the 300m sprint (indoor) with a time of 31.97 seconds. His time was the fourth fastest indoor 300m time when it was set and was achieved at the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava, Czech Republic.[10][11]

Bralon began his individual 2018 season with a world leading 45.48 indoor at the Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station.[12][13] At the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station, Texas on 3 February, Bralon ran a 44.88 indoor lifetime best over 400m. He became sixth man in history to better the 45-second barrier for 400m indoors. Bralon's time ranks him fifth on the world indoor all-time list, just two places and 0.08 behind his countryman Kirani James, the 2012 Olympic champion.[14]

Competition record

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing   Grenada
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 18th (sf) 400 m 46.68
NACAC U23 Championships Kamloops, Canada 2nd 400 m 45.52
2015 Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 15th (h) 400 m 47.61
World Championships Beijing, China 41st (h) 400 m 46.27
2016 World Indoor Championships Portland, United States 4th 400 m 46.56
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7th 400 m 44.45
2017 IAAF World Indoor Tour - International PSD Bank Meeting Düsseldorf Düsseldorf (ARENA-SPORTPARK), Germany 2nd 400m 46.25[15]
IAAF World Indoor Tour - Copernicus Cup Toruń (ARENA), Poland 1st 400m 45.59[16]
2017 Czech Indoor Gala Ostrava, Czech Republic 1st 300m 31.97 'NR'[11]
IAAF World Indoor Tour -Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham Barclaycard Arena England 4th 400m 46.38[17]
'Villa de Madrid' international Meeting Madrid Spain 1st 400m 45.19 PB[18]

Personal bests

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Outdoor

Indoor

References

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  1. ^ a b "Glasgow 2014 - Bralon Taplin Profile". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Bralon Taplin - 2014-15". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Bralon Taplin". IAAF. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  4. ^ Morgan, Liam (2 January 2021). "Grenada sprinter Taplin handed second doping ban for whereabouts failures". Insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  5. ^ "IAAF: 400 Metres Result - 12. International PSD Bank Meeting Dusseldorf 2017 - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  6. ^ "IAAF: 400 Metres Summary - 12. International PSD Bank Meeting Dusseldorf 2017 - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  7. ^ "IAAF: 400 Metres Result - Copernicus Cup - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  8. ^ "IAAF: 400 Metres Result - Müller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  9. ^ "IAAF: IAAF World Indoor Tour winners secure wildcards for Birmingham- News - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Bralon Taplin comes close to world 300m best - global update - Athletics Weekly". 15 February 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  11. ^ a b http://online.atletika.cz/_dataPublic/pdf/resultlist_f522f620-5cc6-43be-9448-20ac57747ef1.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  12. ^ "IAAF: Duplantis breaks world U20 indoor pole vault record in Reno – indoor round-up- News - iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  13. ^ TEGNA. "Aggie track and field sweeps Ted Nelson Invitational". Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  14. ^ "IAAF: Taplin and Oduduru climb world all-time sprint lists – indoor round-up- News - iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  15. ^ "IAAF: 400 Metres Summary - 12. International PSD Bank Meeting Dusseldorf 2017 - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  16. ^ "IAAF: 400 Metres Summary - Copernicus Cup - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  17. ^ "IAAF: 400 Metres Result - Müller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham - iaaf.org". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  18. ^ a b "IAAF: Dibaba, Elemba, Taplin and Beitia excel in Madrid- News - iaaf.org". Retrieved 25 February 2017.
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