Colin Ray Jackson
Jackson is a well known athlete who holds the world record for indoor 60m hurdles. He was also a world record holder at the European Championship for twelve years. Throughout his career he was able to set different world records. Jackson also won 44 races consecutively between 1993 and 1995.
18 February 1967
Wales, Cardiff
Jamaican Maroon, Taino and Scottish
1993 – he won Athlete of the Year by the IAAF Sports Governing Body
1993 – he was a gold medallist in 110m hurdles at the World Championship
1987 – he took bronze at the World Championship in athletics
1988 – he won a silver medal in 110m hurdles at the Olympics
1992- he set his world record for the 100m hurdles
1994 – he won a gold medal at the Victoria Commonwealth Games
1999 – he won Welsh Sports Personality of the Year 2002 and a gold medal at the Munich European Championship
Jackson was born in Cardiff. He started playing cricket, basketball, and football at his primary and high schools in Cardiff. He was the captain of his cricket team in high school and was invited for a trial for the Welsh national team. He was the only team member not to be picked and he believed that this happened because of racism. Subsequently, he quit cricket and started focusing on athletics.
He started his athletics career in decathlon, with his coach Malcolm Arnold. He later took up high hurdles and participated in Welsh under-15 80m hurdles in Swansea, and won. He participated in the European Junior Championship in 1985 at the age of 18, and won his first medal. He took his first European cup win in 1989 and became the first to win three consecutive European titles. He had a winning streak of 44 hurdles races which ended in February 1995. Jackson has proved himself to be an excellent sportsperson with consistent achievement.
He received the MBE in 1990 (Member of the Order of the British Empire)
In 1999, he received the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire)
In 2003 he received the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire)
After Jackson retired from sports, he went into sports management and coaching and participated in the third series of Strictly Come Dancing. He then worked with BBC 1 Sunday Morning Show .
Jackson has suffered from eating disorders when he was training for the Olympics. In 2017, Jackson came out as gay.
Sports Matik, ‘Colin Jackson’, https://sportsmatik.com/sports-stars/colin-jackson-1889 [accessed 22 February 2022]
Champions Olympic Speakers, ‘Colin Jackson CBE: One of the Greatest Athletes Never to Win an Olympic Title’, https://olympic-speakers.com/legends/colin-jackson-cbe/ [accessed 22 February 2022]
Mike Walters, ‘Colin Jackson’, Welsh Athletics,
https://www.welshathletics.org/en/page/colin-jackson [accessed 22 February 2022]
MTC, ‘Colin Jackson CBE: Great Britain’s Legendary Hurdler, Multiple Gold Medallist, World Record Holder, TV & Radio Broadcaster’, https://mtc-uk.com/talent/colin-jackson/ [accessed 22 February 2022]
