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Australian/British ultramarathon runner From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dion Leonard (born Sydney, Australia, 2 January 1975)[1] is an Australian/British endurance athlete and ultramarathon runner, motivational speaker, and author of New York Times Bestseller Finding Gobi,[2] the non-fiction memoir of his story of his dog, Gobi, who ran 77 miles of a 155-mile race across the Gobi Desert.[3] Leonard who grew up in Warwick, Queensland before moving to the U.K. started running in 2013 and has already achieved numerous top 10 finishes (including wins) in ultra races around the world in the most extreme conditions.[4] Leonard has not only competed in but completed some of the world's toughest ultra running races across the most inhospitable landscapes including finishing Marathon Des Sables 3 times.[5]
Throughout his career, Leonard has competed in and found much success in challenging long distance races, very consistently in the top 10 in these major races.
Leonard has been featured on CNN, NBC Today Show, Good Morning Britain, CBS, CNBC, ABC America, Associated Press, ESPN, Pickler & Ben, CCTV, BBC Breakfast, BBC World, Le Parole Della Settimana, Good Morning Croatia, Good Morning Slovenia; Live radio interviews with BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Outlook, Talk Sport UK, NPR America, ABC Radio Australia, Eric Zane Show. Leonard has also been interviewed across print media including China Daily, The New York Times, The Sunday Times, Washington Post, UK Independent, USA Today, Canadian Post, Corrierre della Serra, Novi List, Grazia, Variety, La Republica, The Sun, New York Post, Daily Mail, Le Monde and The Sydney Morning Herald.[18] In 2020, Leonard spoke with the podcast This is Love about meeting his dog, Gobi, during a 155-mile race across the Gobi Desert.[19]
In June 2017, Leonard presented Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards[20] with his dog Gobi at Holyrood Palace alongside Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
In September 2019, Leonard was invited by the President of Slovenia to the Open Gala Day to speak to invited guests about his story of Finding Gobi[21]
In September 2023, Leonard received an award at the 26th Fervent Global Love of Lives [22] for his contribution to helping and empowering others and also for raising awareness for animals in need. As part of the event Leonard was invited to meet Tsai Ing-wen[23]
In October 2016, HarperCollins Publishers announced the expected publication of a trilogy of books about Leonard and Gobi's journey together.[24] The book titled Finding Gobi, received favourable praise in Publishers Weekly.[25] The paperback version was officially launched in United States on 1 June 2017 and went on to become a New York Times Bestseller at number 3.[26] The hardback version was released in United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand on 13 June 2017 reaching the Sunday Times Bestsellers list.[27] This was followed by a paperback version later released in February 2018 also reaching the Sunday Times Bestseller List. Finding Gobi is now available in 21 languages: English, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, Italian, Japanese, German, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Chinese Traditional, Korean, French, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovene, Russian, Serbian and Romanian. A chapter book edition for young adult's and a children's picture book was also released in 2017. The young adult edition book won the 2017 New York City Big Book Award.[28]
On 13 March 2017, 20th Century Fox announced that it was developing a movie based on Dion Leonard and Gobi's extensive journey together.[29] On 20 February 2021 it was announced that Sony Pictures and Tencent Films had purchased the rights from Fox to now make the movie.[30]
Leonard has also written in:
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