Two time Olympian Steve Solomon finished seventh in the men’s 400m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Steve dreamed of being a Wallaby when he was in primary school, but as he hit high school, his rugby teammates out-grew him, and he decided to focus on another sporting passion, soccer.
He was also doing athletics at Cranbrook School, and in 2009 he was encouraged by his sports teacher to try the 400m. By the end of his first summer of athletics (March 2010) his PB was already down to 47.77, at just 16-years-old. He was selected for his international debut at the 2010 World Juniors in Canada where he ran on the 4x400m relay team. Another 12 months on, he was national junior and senior champion and his personal best was an incredible 45.58.
In September he made his senior Australian debut on the 2011 World Championships in the relay. The rise continued when in 2012 he won bronze at the World Junior Championships and a month later made the final of the 400m at the London Olympics. At 19, he was the youngest in the field in London and was now the second-fastest junior and eighth fastest senior Australian ever.
Over the ensuring six years he studied pre-medicine, human biology and a master’s in management studies at Stanford and Duke Universities. On the athletics track he was a regular on the national team, although he suffered a number of injuries. There were glimpses of brilliance, making a world championships final with the relay and the 400m final at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He also maintained sub-45.5 form annually, including a spectacular national record of 45.44 indoors in 2018.
Back in Australia for the last few years, he has settled into a consistent routine where he is also surrounded by his biggest supporters, his family.