Chris Newton - Biography

Biography

Newton is an alumnus of the University of Teesside in Middlesbrough . Newton first competed in the Commonwealth Games in 1994, winning the silver medal in the Team Pursuit with Tony Doyle, Rob Hayles and Bryan Steel.

He was a member of the British Team Pursuit squad which finished tenth at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The team included Matt Illingworth, Rob Hayles and Bryan Steel. He won the bronze medal in the Team Pursuit at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. He won a silver medal in the Team Pursuit, and the bronze in the Points Race at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Newton won the silver medal in the Team Pursuit at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he also competed in the Points Race but failed to finish the race due to mechanical problems. He won gold in the Team Pursuit at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Despite his focus on pursuing a track career at world class level, Newton's all-round ability has also seen him take many wins in top international amateur road races throughout his career.

Newton broke his collarbone on 6 March 2008 when a car door was opened in his path whilst he was training on the road, putting him out of contention for the upcoming World Championships at the end of March. This put him on the backfoot at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he contested the points race. Joan Llaneras built up an impressive lead to take the gold, leaving Newton to battle it out with Roger Kluge for silver. A late attack by Kluge left Newton unable to respond, but he was happy to take a bronze medal at his fourth Olympic Games.

At the first round of the World Cup Classics series, in Manchester on 1 November 2008, Newton was on top form and dominated the points race. He was the clear winner and won the final sprint to a standing ovation from the crowd. On that night Great Britain won all gold in all 6 events.