Noel Thatcher

Noel Thatcher MBE is a British Paralympic runner who represented the United Kingdom at six Paralympic Games between 1984 and 2004, collecting a total of five gold medals. His two career highlights are winning gold and setting a world record at Barcelona in 1992, and winning the 5k race in Sydney in 2000, again setting a world record. At the 2004 Games in Athens, he carried the flag for the Great Britain team at the opening ceremony.[1]

Noel Thatcher
MBE
Personal information
EducationExhall Grange School
OccupationBritish paralympic runner
(1984-2004)
Physiotherapist
Spouse(s)Yumi
Medal record
Para athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place1988 SeoulB2 800m
Gold medal – first place1992 BarcelonaB2 1500m
Gold medal – first place1996 AtlantaT11 5000m
Gold medal – first place1996 AtlantaT11 10000m
Gold medal – first place2000 SydneyT12 5000m
Silver medal – second place1984 New York/Stoke MandevilleB3 400m
Silver medal – second place1988 SeoulB2 1500m
Silver medal – second place1992 BarcelonaB1-B3 4 × 400m relay
Bronze medal – third place1992 BarcelonaB2 800m
Bronze medal – third place2000 SydneyT12 10000m

Early life

Thatcher, who is visually impaired, attended a mainstream primary school where he encountered difficulties with his studies because of his vision. At ten he was sent to Exhall Grange School near Coventry, a specialist school for visually impaired students, and it was here that he developed his athletic skills. Thatcher has said that he was made to run five miles every day for a month as a punishment after he was caught smoking aged twelve, and this helped him to become a proficient runner.[2]

Career

He made his athletics debut at seventeen at a national school championships after being persuaded to attend by a friend, and won a gold medal. He went on to represent the United Kingdom at the Paralympics in 1984, winning silver in the B3 400m.[3]

At the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, Thatcher won gold in the B2 800m and silver in the B2 1500m, behind Mariano Ruiz of Spain.[4]

Four years later at Barcelona 1992, he took the gold medal in the B2 1500m; the silver in the B1-B3 4 × 400m relay alongside Simon Butler, Andrew Curtis and Mark Whiteley; and the bronze in the B2 800m.[5]

Thatcher was a double gold medal winner at Atlanta 1996, triumphing in the T11 5000m and 10,000m.[6]

At the 2000 Sydney Games, in the T12 class, Thatcher took gold in the 5000m and bronze in the 10,000m.[7]

Thatcher carried the flag for Great Britain at the opening ceremony of Athens 2004, and competed in the T12 5000m and T13 10,000m, narrowly missing out on a medal by finishing fourth in both finals.[8][9]

Personal life

Thatcher met his wife Yumi while studying Japanese at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.[2] Away from athletics, Thatcher works as a physiotherapist at the Holly House Hospital in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.[2]

Honours

His achievements at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta led to him being appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours for services to athletics for disabled people.[2][10] He was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.[11]

References
  1. "Noel Thatcher". Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link), Youth Sport Trust
  2. "Sports Legacy Initiative - News". Vision Charity. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  3. "Medallists New York / Stoke Mandeville 1984 Paralympic Games Athletics". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  4. "Medallists Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games Athletics". IPC. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  5. "IPC Historical Results Archive: Athletics at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games". IPC. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  6. "Results Archive: Atlanta 1996, Athletics". International Paralympic Committee.
  7. "Medallists Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Athletics". IPC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  8. "Results Archive Athens 2004 Athletics - Men's 5000 m T12". IPC. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  9. "Results Archive Athens 2004 Athletics - Men's 10000 m T13". IPC. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  10. "No. 54625". The London Gazette. 31 December 1996. p. 23.
  11. "Hall of Fame Inductees 2009". England Athletics. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
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