Robert Champion (born 4 June 1948) is an English former jump

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

, who won the

1981 Grand National The 1981 Grand National (officially known as ''The Sun'' Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 135th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 4 April 1981. It is rem ...

on Aldaniti. His triumph, while recovering from cancer, was made into the 1984 film ''

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

'', with

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

portraying Champion. The film is based on Champion's book ''Champion's Story'', which he wrote with close friend, racing journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Powell.

Biography

Champion was born in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, but very soon after his birth the family moved to

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

. During his childhood, he rode the donkey Lively Laddie, who was born in 1943 and lived to at least 60 years old. In July 1979, at the height of his career as a jockey, he was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

. He was treated with an

orchidectomy Orchiectomy (also named orchidectomy) is a surgical procedure in which one or both testicles are removed. The surgery can be performed for various reasons: *treatment for testicular cancer *as part of gender-affirming surgery for transgender wo ...

and with the chemotherapeutic drugs

bleomycin -13- (1''H''-imidazol-5-yl)methyl9-hydroxy-5- 1''R'')-1-hydroxyethyl8,10-dimethyl-4,7,12,15-tetraoxo-3,6,11,14-tetraazapentadec-1-yl}-2,4'-bi-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)carbonyl]amino}propyl)(dimethyl)sulfonium , C=55 , H=84 , N=17 , O=21 , S=3 , SMI ...

vinblastine Vinblastine, sold under the brand name Velban among others, is a chemotherapy medication, typically used with other medications, to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-small-cell lung cancer, bladder canc ...

and

cisplatin Cisplatin is a chemical compound with chemical formula, formula ''cis''-. It is a coordination complex of platinum that is used as a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of cancers. These include testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, c ...

, and also had an exploratory operation to identify cancer in his

lymph nodes A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped Organ (anatomy), organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphoc ...

. His victory on Aldaniti was viewed by many as a great triumph, following his adversity. Their victory in the Grand National earned them that year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award, and was chosen by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

viewers in 2002 as one of the

100 Greatest Sporting Moments ''100 Greatest'' is a long-running television strand on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom that originated in 1999 in Tyne Tees Television’s Factual Features department under executive producer Mark Robinson, but the format has more recently has ...

. Other major races that Champion won during his career include the

Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup /Ladbrokes Trophy The Coral Gold Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is ru ...

and the Whitbread Trial Chase. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

1982 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supp ...

. In 1983 he formed the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, which has raised millions of pounds for cancer research. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1981, when he was surprised, on his wedding day, by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

. Champion became a trainer based in Newmarket. The first horse he bought as such was "Just Martin" for owner Frank Pullen, who also built his yard. He retired from training horses in 1999. On 22 December 2011, Champion received the

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given “for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity”, and B ...

award as part of the 2011

BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just a single award of the same name. Several new awards have been introduced, and cu ...

competition. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to prostate and testicular cancer research. The Bob Champion Research and Education Building which is part of the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

campus is named after him.

Works

*Bob Champion and Jonathan Powell, ''Champion's Story: A Great Human Triumph'', Victor Gollancs Ltd. (1981). *Bob Champion, ''I'm Champion, Call Me Bob'', FCM Publishing, Lincoln, (2018).

References

External links

The Bob Champion Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Bob 1948 births Living people English jockeys Sportspeople from Guisborough Sportspeople from Yorkshire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire