Jon Ridgeon

Jonathan ("Jon") Peter Ridgeon (born 14 February 1967) is an English former athlete who competed mainly in the 110 metres hurdles and the 400 metres hurdles. In the 110m hurdles, he won the silver medal at the 1987 World Championships and the gold medal at the 1987 Universiade. He represented Great Britain at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Jon Ridgeon
Personal information
Born (1967-02-14) 14 February 1967
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Sport
Sport110m hurdles
ClubBelgrave Harriers, Wimbledon
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing  Great Britain
World Championships
Silver medal – second place1987 Rome110 m hurdles
Universiade
Gold medal – first place1987 Zagreb110 m hurdles

Biography

Ridgeon was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.[1] He won the 110 m hurdles at the European Junior Championship in 1985, ahead of his fellow British athlete Colin Jackson, who finished runner-up. Ridgeon then finished second to Jackson at the 1986 World Junior Championships. He represented England in the 110 metres hurdles event, at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2][3][4]

Ridgeon won the 110 m hurdles gold medal at the 1987 Universiade (World University Games) in Zagreb.

At the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Ridgeon won a silver medal in the 110 m hurdles (with Jackson taking the bronze medal). Ridgeon then finished in fifth place at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul (where Jackson came second). However Ridgeon and Jackson's rivalry was comparatively short-lived, as Ridgeon began to develop injuries that led to him missing out on most major events in the following years.

When Ridgeon returned to regular competition, he switched to the 400 metres hurdles, before his retiring from the sport.

Ridgeon was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1998 he became a founding and managing partner of Fast Track, a sports marketing agency (the agency was sold in 2007[5]). As well as working with Fast Track, Ridgeon has also been a TV commentator for the BBC and BSkyB since retiring as an athlete.

In 2018, Ridgeon was appointed chief executive officer of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).[6][7]

Personal bests
  • 110m H - 13.29 (Zagreb, Croatia, 15 Jul 1987)
  • 400m H - 48.73 (Rieti, Italy, 6 Sep 1992)

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing the  Great Britain /  England
1985 World Indoor Games Paris, France 3rd 60 m hurdles 7.70 sec
European Junior Championships Cottbus, Germany 1st 110 m hurdles 13.46
1986 World Junior Championships Athens, Greece 2nd 110m hurdles 13.91 (wind: -0.8 m/s)
1st 4 × 100 m relay 39.80
Commonwealth Games Edinburgh, Scotland 5th 110 m hurdles 13.76
European Championships Stuttgart, West Germany 6th 110 m hurdles 13.70 (wind: +2.0 m/s)
1987 World Student Games (Universiade) Zagreb, Croatia 1st 110 m hurdles 13.29
World Championships Rome, Italy 2nd 110 m hurdles 13.29
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 5th 110 m hurdles 13.52
1992 European Indoor Championships Genoa, Italy 4th 60 m hurdles 7.78
World Cup Havana, Cuba 2nd 400 m hurdles 49.01
1996 European Cup Madrid, Spain 2nd 400 m hurdles 49.84
Olympic Games Atlanta, United States semi-final 400 m hurdles 49.43


References
  1. "Jon Ridgeon". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  2. "1986 Athletes". Team England.
  3. "England team in 1986". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  4. "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  5. Alistair Osborne (14 March 2007). "Athletes strike gold with sale of marketing agency". The Daily Telegraph.
  6. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/46433028 "Jon Ridgeon: IAAF appoints British former hurdler as new chief executive", BBC, December 3, 2018.
  7. https://www.athleticsweekly.com/news/jon-ridgeon-announced-as-iaaf-ceo-1039919249/ "Jon Ridgeon announced as IAAF CEO", Athletics Weekly, December 3, 2018.
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