Olympic Profile - James Ellington (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Croydon's James Ellington

6:26pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in Olympic Profiles By Nick Hitchens

Name: James Ellington.

Age: 27

Event: 200m and 4 x 100m.

Location: The Athletics Stadium Olympic Park, Stratford.

Time: Round 1 200m Tuesday August 7 11.50am 4 x 100m Round 1 Friday August 10 7.45pm.

Local Link: Born in Lewisham but has lived in Addiscombe for the past three years.

Career Best: 20.52 sec.

Career High: Winning the UK trials to make his first Olympics.

Sporting Background: Success at junior level failed to transfer into his adult career after a string of niggling injuries blighted his hopes. A member of Newham and Essex Beagles, he grabbed headlines last year when he tried to sell himself on eBay to secure sponsorship.

He says: "With everything in place I think I can do a 20.20, which historically would be enough to sneak into the final. "I’m not a dreamer, I know there are the Jamaicans and Americans out there recording sub 20 times but to get to the final would be amazing."

We say: "Ellington’s best chance of a medal may come in the relay where a poor baton change from the strong American or Jamaican teams could let in an outsider. In the 200m a finals appearance would be a good result."