Colin Jackson

Jackson won his first major medal, a silver, in the 110 m hurdles, aged 19 at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. He soon established himself on the global scene, taking bronze at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. After winning another silver in the 60 m hurdles at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships, he won European and Commonwealth gold medals in 1990. The 1993 season saw him reach the pinnacle of his sport: after a silver at the 1993 Indoor Worlds, he set a world record of 12.91 seconds to become the 1993 World Champion. This record was unbeaten for almost 13 years and remains the world championship record. Jackson was part of the British 4×100 metres relay team which won the world silver medal.

This period was Jackson's most successful: he had a streak of 44 races undefeated between 1993 and 1995. In addition to European and Commonwealth golds outdoors in 1994, he set another world record, running 7.30 seconds in the 60 m hurdles. A double gold at the 1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships in the 60 m hurdles and sprint events saw him set a European record of 6.49 seconds over 60 m. Injury affected his 1995–1996 seasons and he finished only fourth at the 1996 Olympics. He returned to competition in 1997 and took silver twice – at the Indoor World Championships and the World Outdoors. After winning the European Championships for a third consecutive time in 1998 he became indoor and outdoor World champion in 1999. He finished fifth at the 2000 Summer Olympics and his last major medals came in 2002, taking European indoor and outdoor gold and a Commonwealth silver.

After a period of sports management and coaching, he now works as a sports commentator for athletics and as a television presenter (predominantly for the BBC). He is a well-known face on British television, having been on Strictly Come Dancing in 2005, as well as a number of other entertainment and factual TV programmes.

Jackson, born in Cardiff, South Wales, is of Jamaican and Panamanian descent. A DNA test indicated his ancestry is mostly African and European with some Indigenous ancestry, suggesting descent from Jamaican Maroons and Taínos. Genealogical research shows his mixed-race Panamanian-born mother had Scottish ancestry.[4] He is the brother of actress Suzanne Packer who played Tess Bateman in the BBC One hospital drama Casualty. Jackson grew up in Birchgrove, attending Springwood Primary School and then Llanedeyrn High School. He played football and cricket for the county and rugby union and basketball for his school and joined the athletics club Birchgrove Harriers, which nurtured his talent. As captain of his school cricket team, he and four team-mates were invited to trials for the Welsh national cricket team: whilst his team-mates were all picked, Jackson was passed over – he attributed this to racism, and has said it resulted in him quitting the sport and focusing on athletics, as "athletics had more people that looked like me".[5] Jackson has also stated he felt discriminated against by British Athletics for selections and sponsorship. He said: "I felt the discrimination was because I was Welsh more than anything else."[6]

Under coach and close friend Malcolm Arnold, Jackson started out as a promising decathlete before switching to high hurdles. He won gold at the 1986 World Junior Championships and he soon switched to the senior ranks. Following a silver medal in the 1986 Commonwealth Games, he won the 110m hurdles silver at the 1988 Olympic Games behind Roger Kingdom. Although his career as an active competitor in the event would last a further fifteen years, the last ten of these as world record holder, and see him twice crowned World Champion, twice Commonwealth Champion and four times European Champion, this would remain his only Olympic medal of any colour. In 1992 he eased through his first round heat in 13.10 s (which proved faster than the gold medal-winning time) but was restricted by an injury he picked up during the next round and could only finish seventh in the final, and in 1996 he came fourth and in 2000, fifth.

He set his world record for the 110 metres hurdles on 20 August 1993, winning his first World Championships gold medal in Stuttgart, Germany in 12.91 s. The new mark (also a championship record) shaved 0.01 s off the previous record held by Kingdom and stood for nearly thirteen years, only being equalled by Liu Xiang in the 2004 Summer Olympics and finally beaten by the same man on 11 July 2006 at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne with a time of 12.88 s. Jackson remained the sole holder of the indoor world record at the 60 metres hurdles with a time of 7.30 seconds set in Sindelfingen, Germany on 6 March 1994 until February 2021. At the 1994 European Indoor Championships he became a double European champion: winning in both the 60 metres hurdles and 60 metres sprint race as well. His 60 m dash time of 6.49 s was a European record, as well as a championship record. These records remained unbeaten for 5 years, when Jason Gardener ran 6.46 s in 1999 in Maebashi, Japan.

Jackson at the 2007 European Cup

The aforementioned achievements coincided with one of the high points of Jackson's career: he was unbeaten between 29 August 1993 and 9 February 1995. He won forty-four races consecutively in this period.[7] His winning time at the 1994 Commonwealth Games was a Commonwealth Games record.

Jackson was a master of the "dip" – the skill of leaning forward at the end of a race to advance the position of the shoulders and improve times (and potentially positions). He was also renowned for being a particularly fast starter, which led to a great deal of success in 60m events. Jackson's technical hurdling ability distinguished him from his peers whether they were faster than him or not.

He was the subject of controversy in 1998 when he decided to run for cash in Tokyo, Japan, rather than compete in the Commonwealth Games for Wales.

Six years after his first world title, Jackson regained his 110m hurdles crown at the 1999 Seville World Championships. This was to be his last gold medal at the very highest level, but he added a final, fourth successive European Championships gold in the 2002 Munich European Championships, extending an unbroken reign as European Champion stretching back to 1990.

Jackson at the 2007 Highland Games

Since ending his athletics career at the 2003 World Indoor Championships[8] Jackson has been involved in numerous endeavours, in athletics and other areas. He coached his close friend the swimmer Mark Foster until Foster's retirement in April 2016. He has coached two of Wales best Olympic prospects, 400m runner Timothy Benjamin and 400m hurdler Rhys Williams. He was also one of the members of the successful London 2012 Olympic bid team and is a key member of the BBC's televisions athletics coverage. However, he started his broadcasting career in 2004 by co-hosting, with Sally Gunnell, the BBC reality TV programme Born to Win.

Already the holder of the MBE that he received in 1990 for his services to athletics, in 2000 he was promoted to OBE and then in 2003 to a CBE.[9][10]

The English reggae band Aswad name-checked him on their 1994 hit song "Shine": Him a floating like a butterfly, the hurdling man – Yes, me-a-chat about Colin Jackson.

Jackson has written three books: the first, The Young Track and Field Athlete, was published in March 1996 by Dorling Kindersley;[11] his second, Colin Jackson: The Autobiography, was published in April 2004 by BBC Books;[12] and his last, Life's New Hurdles, was published in March 2008 by Accent Press Ltd as part of the Quick Reads Initiative.[13]

Since 2014 Jackson has been the race director of the Wings for Life World Run.[14][15]

In December 2018 it was announced that Jackson was to become Chancellor of Wrexham Glyndŵr University.[16][17]

In July 2022 he participated in the Commonwealth Games Queen's Baton Relay, carrying the baton into Basildon Sporting Village.[18][19]

Media career

After retiring from athletics, he became the face of BBC Raise Your Game with Colin Jackson in which he talked to high-profile international stars about the importance of learning. Participants included Luol Deng, Jenson Button, Davina McCall, and stars from Strictly Come Dancing, to name but a few.

His work as a BBC athletics commentator and pundit began with the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since then he has been a regular member of the BBC team covering athletics events.[20]

He is a Director of multimedia production company Red Shoes, along with fellow Director and former BBC Executive Producer Richard Owen. Their clients include the IAAF and UEFA.

Jackson at a charity event in 2005

Jackson, who is of Jamaican descent, was the subject of an episode of the BBC TV genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?,[21] broadcast in the UK on 20 September 2006. Genetic tests showed his ancestry to be 55% African, 7% Native American (believed to be from Jamaican Maroon ancestry on his father's side), and 38% European. His mother was born in Panama, the daughter of Richard Augustus Packer and Gladys McGowan Campbell. Gladys Campbell was from Jamaica, the daughter of a Scottish man Duncan Campbell and his housemaid Albertina Wallace.[22]

In March 2007 Jackson starred as the 'hidden celebrity' in an episode of the award-winning CBBC gameshow Hider in the House, hosted by JK and Joel.

In 2008, Jackson co-hosted, with Louise Minchin, the Sunday morning show Sunday Life on BBC One.[23]

Colin Jackson appeared in the BBC One documentary The Making of Me on 31 July 2008, which attempted to find out what had made him such a talented athlete.[24] A sample of his leg muscle showed that he had 25% super-fast twitch fibres, when all previous athletes tested had only 2%. Family support was also thought to have been highly significant. Jamaicans are notable for the high level of support and encouragement they give their children in the area of sports. One clip showed a stadium in Jamaica with 30,000 people cheering on children taking part in an average school sports meet. Supporters included their peers, who seemed happy to cheer on their classmates who were 'good at sports'. Although Jackson was brought up in the UK, he remembers his parents cheering on Don Quarrie in the 1976 Olympics, inspiring him to want to 'be like that'.

In 2009 Jackson shared his writing tips on the adult learning website "BBC raw words". He features in a comedy short with Nina Wadia, Rowland Rivron and Anneka Rice about structuring a story, and also shares his writing tips gained from writing Life's New Hurdles.

In July 2010, Jackson was a competitor on the BBC television programme Celebrity MasterChef.

In 2012 Jackson made a cameo appearance as himself in an episode of the UK TV comedy drama Stella. In 2015, he starred in the historical experience 24 Hours in the Past.

In February 2019 Jackson was inaugurated as a Chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University, after being awarded with an Honorary Fellowship in 2016 for his contribution to sport.[25]

On 26 August 2017 Jackson came out as gay in a clip on Swedish television promoting the series "Rainbow Heroes".[39][40] Previously he had denied that he was gay both in his 2004 autobiography[12] and in a 2008 interview with The Voice newspaper.[41]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Great Britain and  Wales
1985	European Indoor Championships	Piraeus, Greece	10th (sf)	60 m hurdles	7.85
	European Junior Championships	Cottbus, East Germany	2nd	110 m hurdles	13.69
1986	World Junior Championships	Athens, Greece	1st	110 m hurdles	13.44
	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	2nd	110 m hurdles	13.42
1987	European Indoor Championships	Liévin, France	2nd	60 m hurdles	7.63
	World Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, United States	4th	60 m hurdles	7.68
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	3rd	110 m hurdles	13.38
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	2nd	110 m hurdles	13.28
1989	European Indoor Championships	The Hague (Netherlands)	1st	60 m hurdles	7.59
	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	60 m hurdles	7.45
	World Cup	Barcelona, Spain	2nd	110 m hurdles	12.95 (w)
1990	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	1st	110 m hurdles	13.08
	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	1st	110 m hurdles	13.18
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	2nd (h)	110 m hurdles	13.251
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	7th	110 m hurdles	13.46
	World Cup	Havana, Cuba	1st	110 m hurdles	13.07
1993	World Indoor Championships	Toronto, Canada	2nd	60 m hurdles	7.43
	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	110 m hurdles	12.91
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	37.77
1994	European Indoor Championships	Paris, France	1st	60 m	6.49
			1st	60 m hurdles	7.41
	Goodwill Games	St. Petersburg, Russia	1st	110 m hurdles	13.29
	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	1st	110 m hurdles	13.08
	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	1st	110 m hurdles	13.08
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	4th	110 m hurdles	13.19
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	2nd	60 m hurdles	7.49
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	2nd	110 m hurdles	13.05
1998	Goodwill Games	Uniondale, United States	4th	110 m hurdles	13.17
	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	110 m hurdles	13.02
	World Cup	Johannesburg, South Africa	2nd	110 m hurdles	13.11
1999	World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	1st	60 m hurdles	7.38
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	1st	110 m hurdles	13.04
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	5th	110 m hurdles	13.28
2001	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	5th	110 m hurdles	13.63
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	1st	60 m hurdles	7.40
	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, United Kingdom	2nd	110 m hurdles	13.39
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	1st	110 m hurdles	13.11
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	5th	60 m hurdles	7.61

¹Did not start in the semifinals

Personal bests

Outdoor

• 110 metres hurdles – 12.91 sec (1993), former world record and current European record
• 200 metres hurdles – 22.63 sec (1991)
• 100 metres – 10.29 sec (1990)
• 200 metres – 21.19 sec (1988)
• High jump – 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄4 in) (1982)
• Long jump – 7.56 m (24 ft 9+1⁄2 in) (1985)

Indoor

• 50 metres hurdles – 6.40 sec (1999), current British record
• 60 metres hurdles – 7.30 sec (1994), former world record
• 110 metres hurdles – 13.40 sec (2003)
• 60 metres – 6.49 sec (1994), former European record
• All information from IAAF profile.[42]

• Colin Jackson: The Autobiography (BBC Books, 2003)

• Colin Jackson at World Athletics
• Colin Jackson at ThePowerOf10.info
• Colin Jackson at Olympics.com
• Colin Jackson at Olympedia
• Colin Jackson at the British Olympic Association
• Colin Jackson at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
• BBC Hall of Fame profile Archived 16 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• Speaker profile of Colin Jackson
• Agent's biography