British sprinter who won two golds at 2010 Commonwealth Games is missing following trip to Morocco two months ago

By JAKE HOLDEN, UK NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:40, 18 August 2026 | Updated: 15:43, 18 August 2026 A British athletics star who won two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games is missing after going on a trip to Morocco two months ago. Former sprinter Leon Baptiste, 41, has not contacted anyone back at home since he travelled to Morocco with friends for what was believed to be either a stag do or a golfing trip. It is believed the highly regarded athletics coach - who trained several elite Team GB athletes like Paris Olympic 4x400m relay bronze medallist Charlie Dobson - only planned to go for the weekend but has not returned after two months Texts and calls to his phone have gone unanswered, which led a former teammate to raise the alarm on August 14. One British teammate said that Mr Baptiste was a 'very calm and sensible chap' and that his disappearance was 'very worrying.' His star student Charlie Dobson has struggled with injuries since Mr Baptiste vanished and failed to make it beyond the European Championship's 400m semi-finals last week. Mr Baptiste enjoyed a glittering sprinting career in his day, winning two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. He stormed to victory in the 200m before also taking gold as part of England's 4x100m relay team. Former sprinter Leon Baptiste, 41, has been missing for two months since his weekend trip in Morocco. Here, he wins the 'England Athletics Coach of the Year' award in 2023 A British teammate of his said his disappearance was 'very worrying' and that he was a 'very calm and sensible chap'. Here he wins gold in the men's 200 metres at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Mr Baptiste won two golds at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. He is now a highly regarded coach to top British athletes like Paris Olympics bronze medalist Charlie Dobson His career began as a teenager when he burst onto the scene and won 100m gold for Great Britain at the 2003 European Junior Championships in Finland aged just 18. Here, he also topped the podium as part of the 4x100m relay team, which led him to be named junior male athlete of the year by the British Athletics Writers' Association. Sadly, Baptiste missed the 2012 London Olympics after undergoing surgery and ended up retiring from competitive athletics aged 28 in 2014, deciding not to defend his Commonwealth titles in that year's competition in Glasgow. He said at the time: 'As much as I am sprinting and progressing, my body has never fully recovered from my knee surgery. 'My coach and I feel that Glasgow Commonwealth Games qualification is a tall order – so the time has come for my focus to move elsewhere. 'The decision for an athlete to retire is never easy, but in essence the decision has been made for me.' Following this decision, he moved into coaching and is now employed by UK Athletics as a consultant in Loughborough, but the organisation previously declined to make a public comment about his disappearance.