| Rory Leonard | |
| Nationality: | British |
| Sport: | Athletics |
| Event: | 10,000 metres, cross country |
| Birth Date: | 13 February 2001 |
| Club: | Morpeth Harriers |
Rory Leonard (born 13 February 2001) is a British track and field athlete who competes as a long distance runner. In 2023, he won gold at the European U23 Athletics Championships over 10,000 metres.[1]
From Ampleforth, in Yorkshire,[2] he attended The King Edward VI School, Morpeth. Leonard competed at the European Youth Olympics in 2018. From 2021, he attended Oklahoma State University where he studied English literature and philosophy. He runs for Morpeth Harriers.[3] He was coached by his father Tony as a youngster, and both his parents competed collegiately at the University of Arkansas, with his mother Sharon winning an English Schools silver medal in cross country in the 1980s.[4]
In 2019, he was English National under-20 cross country champion and subsequently raced for Great Britain at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus.[5]
He finished 16th in 2021 and 11th in 2022 at the European Cross Country Championships. In 2023, he set personal best times over 3000m indoors (8:07.97) and 10,000m (28:21.30).[1] That year, he won gold at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships over 10,000 metres in Espoo.[6]
In February 2024, he set a new personal best time of 13:31 in Monaco over 5km, which placed him seventh on the all time UK list.[7] In April 2024, he lowered that personal best to 13:29.54 in Battersea.[8] He ran a 10,000 metres personal best on the track in London in May 2024, running 27:38.39.[9] That month, he was selected to run the 10,000 metres for Britain at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome.[10]