Fatima Whitbread
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women’s Athletics | |||
| Competitor for Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Silver | 1988 Seoul | Javelin | |
| Bronze | 1984 Los Angeles | Javelin | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 1987 Rome | Javelin | |
| Silver | 1983 Helsinki | Javelin | |
Fatima Whitbread MBE (born 3 March 1961 in London) is an English former javelin thrower and multi medal-winner.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Abandoned in a north London flat as a baby by her Turkish Cypriot mother, Whitbread spent many unloving years in and out of children's homes before finally meeting her mother again. It transpired that she (Whitbread's mother) had conceived Whitbread as a result of an affair with a Greek Cypriot, resulting in her being disowned by her friends and naming her son as the father on the birth certificate.[1]
Her mother was violent towards her from the first day that they met, threatening to cut her throat if she didn't look after her brother and sister while she [Whitbread's mother] went out to meet men, one of whom drunkenly raped Whitbread, again provoking her mother to threaten to cut her throat.[2]
At the age of thirteen she was adopted by the Whitbread family and she spent her teenage years in Chadwell St Mary in Essex after her mother asked the family to take her daughter when it became clear that she was spending a lot of time with sports coach Margaret[2].
[edit] Career
She broke the World Record with a throw of 77.44m in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Championships in Athletics (where she also won the final) and became World Champion in 1987. She became well-known in the UK for her celebratory wiggle after defeating arch-rival Petra Felke in these events. Her performances in 1987 led to her being voted winner of the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.[3]
Whitbread had previously won the silver medal at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She was also well-known for her rivalry with fellow English javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson, who won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles with Whitbread finishing in bronze medal position. In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Whitbread won the silver medal behind Felke, who had broken the world record in the interim.
She married Andrew Norman and has a son, Ryan, born in South Africa.
She was once a governor of King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, which is close to Brentwood where she was living.
[edit] References
- ^ http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,904199,00.html
- ^ http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,904199,00.html
- ^ [1] BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1987
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Image:Flag of England.svg Nigel Mansell | BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1987 | Succeeded by Image:Flag of England.svg Steve Davis |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Image:Flag of East Germany.svg Petra Felke | Women's Javelin Best Year Performance 1984 – 1985 | Succeeded by Image:Flag of East Germany.svg Petra Felke |
fr:Fatima Whitbread ja:ファティマ・ウィットブレッド pl:Fatima Whitbread fi:Fatima Whitbread sv:Fatima Whitbread
Categories: 1961 births | Living people | Anglo-Cypriots | Athletes at the 1982 Commonwealth Games | Athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 1988 Summer Olympics | BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners | English athletes | Javelin throwers | Members of the Order of the British Empire | Olympic bronze medalists for Great Britain | Olympic athletes of Great Britain | Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain | Turkish Cypriots | People from Chadwell St Mary
