Mark Dry

Mark Dry
Personal information
NationalityScottish
Born (1987-10-11) 11 October 1987 (age 37)
Milton Keynes, England, UK
Height184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight110.8 kg (244 lb)
Sport
Country Scotland
SportTrack and field
EventHammer throw
ClubWoodford Green & Essex Ladies
Coached byTore Gustafsson
Achievements and titles
Personal best76.93 m
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Glasgow Hammer throw
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gold Coast Hammer throw

Mark Dry (born 11 October 1987) is a British track and field athlete, competing in the hammer throw, who won bronze medals for Scotland at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Career

He was born in Milton Keynes.[1] In his earlier years he was a member of Elgin Amateur Athletics Club, where he began competing in hammer event in 2005.[2] In his first year, he managed to come tenth in the country as an under-20 athlete. Since 2010, he represents the Woodford Green with Essex Ladies in National Championships,[3] and predominantly competes in England or the United States. Although the top-ranked British athlete, he missed the 2013 World Championships in Athletics due to him having not achieved the B qualifying standard. UK Athletics selected him to receive support from the World Class Performance Programme for 2013-2014 because they judged him to have Olympic potential.[4] In 2013 his seasons' best throw of 74.46m was the best achieved amongst UK men.[5]

He has been one of the top three British hammer throwers since 2009 and in the British Championships has won a bronze medal in 2012 and silver in 2013. In the Scottish Championships he won gold in Kilmarnock in August 2014.[6]

In May 2015, he threw a distance of 76.93m which secured him the fifth spot in the all-time UK rankings.[7]

In a complex anti-doping rule violation case initiated in May 2019 and involved a series of judgements and appeals, Dry ultimately served a 28 month competition ban from February 2020 to January 2022.[8][9][10][11]

International competitions

He competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games but did not perform well, being placed sixth with 67.41 m, some seven metres short of his best of 74.82 m. He has also competed in the 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships, but failed to live up to expectations and came eighth with a throw almost six metres off his best.

In 2014, competing for Scotland at the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Dry came third in the Men's Hammer throw finishing behind Jim Steacey (Canada) and Nicholas Miller (England).[1][2][12]

Dry represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics taking part in the qualification round of the men's hammer throw, but not proceeding to the final.

Dry competed in the 2022 Commonwealth Games placing 10th in the men's hammer throw.

References

  1. ^ a b "Athletics: Mark Dry: biography". results.glasgow2014.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Mark Dry". The Power of 10. UK Athletics. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Athlete profiles: Mark Dry". Scottish Athletics. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  4. ^ "'World-class' cash boost for 12 Scottish athletes". BBC News. BBC. 14 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Ones to watch in 2014". Athletics Weekly. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  6. ^ Woods, Mark (18 August 2014). "Mark Dry hopes Olympic place is in his range". The Herald. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Mark Dry breaks Scottish hammer record at Loughborough International". The Herald. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Hammer thrower Mark Dry provisionally suspended over anti-doping rule violation". Jersey Evening Post. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Mark Dry: Hammer thrower vows to return as ban is reduced to 28 months from four years". BBC News. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  10. ^ Egelstaff, Susan (2 October 2021). "Mark Dry reveals £20k cost & seven-day working weeks in hammer throw comeback after dubious doping ban". The National. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  11. ^ Brown, Andy (18 August 2021). "Mark Dry: who's guilty of tampering with what?". The Sports Integrity Initiative. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  12. ^ Bathgate, Stuart (30 July 2014). "Commonwealth Games: Dry on high with hammer bronze". The Scotsman. Retrieved 20 January 2015.