Lee Troop is an Olympic marathon runner from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He became involved in athletics at the age of 11 when he joined his father's weight loss campaign by taking training runs around the Geelong suburb of Whittington.
Mentored by one of Australia's greatest ever marathoners Steve Moneghetti, Lee is one of Australia's toughest distance runners who always serves it up to the field. He shot to prominence with credible finishes in the 5,000 metres and 10,000m at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, finishing 6th and 7th in the respective events.
After breaking Ron Clarke's 33-year-old national record in the 5000m in 1999, he decided to focus on marathon running in the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, however, after qualifying he tore an abdominal muscle and struggled to finish in 66th place.
For the next two years, Troop was troubled by a series of injuries but bounced back in 2003, enjoying his best ever form. He ran a personal best for the marathon, 2:09:49, at Lake Biwa and finished 17th at the World Championships in Paris. He placed 27th at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in the marathon with a time of 2:18.46. He broke down shortly after with a stress fracture of the pelvis.
In October 2007, Troop ran 2hr 10min 31sec at the Berlin Marathon – an Olympic A-grade qualifying time. In May 2008, Troop is the only nomination for the Australian Men's team in the marathon for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Troop said he wanted to emulate the feats of Australian marathon legends Robert de Castella and his coach Steve Moneghetti in achieving a top 10 placing at the Olympic Games.
Lee has been an exceptional role model for young sportspeople over a number of years and is always willing to assist with community events and offer his support.
