James McIlroy

James Samuel McIlroy (born 30 December 1976) is a British middle-distance runner who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Biography McIlroy, born in Larne, Northern Ireland, initially represented Ireland before changing his nationality to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. When he was 21 years old he showed great promise by finishing fourth over 800 metres in the 1998 European Athletics Championship having taken 14 seconds off his personal best in only 13 months. Serving a one-year ban for changing nationality, McIlroy, a member of Windsor, Slough & Eton, still produced the third fastest British all-time 1000 metres behind Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram when finishing 4th in Rieti, Italy.

In 2000 he became the British 800 metres champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 2000 AAA Championships. Shortly afterwards at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, he represented Great Britain in the 800 metres event and made the Olympics semi-final.