Fatima Whitbread (' Vedad; 3 March 1961) is a British retired javelin thrower. She broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

with a throw of in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, and became the first British athlete to set a world record in a throwing event. Whitbread went on to win the European title that year, and took the gold medal at the 1987 World Championships. She is also a two-time Olympic medallist, winning bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics and silver at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. She was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1987. After a difficult early childhood, Fatima Vedad was adopted by the family of Margaret Whitbread, a javelin coach. Whitbread won the 1977

English Schools' Athletics Championships The English Schools' Athletics Championships are annual national athletics competitions organised by the English Schools' Athletic Association ESAA for students in England aged 12–18 for track and field, cross country and race walking. The ...

intermediate title, and was selected for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, where she finished sixth. The following year, she took gold at the

1979 European Athletics Junior Championships The 1979 European Athletics Junior Championships was the fifth edition of the biennial athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland between 16 and 19 August.Tessa Sanderson. Whitbread's later career was affected by a long-term shoulder injury, which she believed dated back to her world record throw in 1986. The

1990 UK Athletics Championships The 1990 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Cardiff Athletics Stadium, Cardiff. It was the first time that the event was held in the Welsh capital. Strong winds aff ...

was the last event in which she participated, and she sustained a further shoulder injury there. In 1992 she formally retired from competition. Whitbread has appeared on several television programmes, including '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' in 2011. She was named the Sports Writers' Association Sportswoman of the Year in 1986 and 1987. She was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) in the

1987 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 suppl ...

, for services to athletics.

Early life

Fatima Vedad was born on 3 March 1961 in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. T ...

, London, to a Turkish Cypriot mother and Greek Cypriot father. She grew up in a series of children's homes, occasionally being left in the care of her abusive biological mother. In a 2003 interview with ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'', she said, "it was a nightmare of a childhood and it was only because I loved sport so much that I got through it and met my true mother." Vedad started throwing the javelin aged 11. According to her account, she had taken up an interest in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

events after being inspired by the myth of

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

, "whom no man could outrun except by cheating, and whose javelin killed a terrible monster"; and by Mary Peters, who won the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics' women's pentathlon. Vedad met javelin thrower

David Ottley David Charles "Dave" Ottley (born 5 August 1955 in West Thurrock, Essex) is a retired British athlete who mainly competed in the men's javelin throw event. Athletics career Ottley competed for Great Britain at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in ...

at a stadium and asked him if she could use his javelin. He asked her to wait until the

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

arrived. The coach was Margaret Whitbread, a physical education teacher at a local school, whom Vedad had previously met when Whitbread refereed a

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

match that she played in. After discovering that Vedad stayed at a children's home, Margaret Whitbread passed on some boots and a javelin from a girl who had retired from the event. Three years later, Vedad was adopted by Margaret Whitbread and her family. She spent her teenage years in Chadwell St Mary, Essex, where she attended the

Torells School The Gateway Academy, formerly The Gateway Community College, is a coeducational academy secondary school in Grays, Essex, England. It became an academy in 2006 under the sponsorship of the Ormiston Trust after Thurrock Council was unable to ...

in nearby

Grays Grays or Greys may refer to: Places * Grays Bay, Nunavut, Canada * Grays, Essex, a town in Essex, England ** Grays railway station ** Grays School * Grays, Kent, a hamlet in Kent, England * Rotherfield Greys or Greys, a village in Oxfordshire, En ...

Career

Early career

Whitbread won the

intermediate title in 1977, and set a national intermediate record of in winning the

Amateur Athletic Association The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Brita ...

(AAA) women's championship the following month. She placed sixth in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, throwing . Whitbread won gold in the javelin event at the

1979 European Athletics Junior Championships The 1979 European Athletics Junior Championships was the fifth edition of the biennial athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland between 16 and 19 August. She was selected for the 1980 Summer Olympics event, but, achieving only , she failed to qualify for the final. At the 1982 Commonwealth Games, Whitbread took the bronze medal, throwing , which was behind champion Sue Howland, from Australia. Tessa Sanderson-2

Having finished behind fellow British competitor Tessa Sanderson in a run of 18 competitions, Whitbread finally defeated her rival with a throw of to win the UK Athletics Championship in 1983, Whitbread won the silver medal at the inaugural

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 1983, having narrowly qualified for the final. She led throughout the final until

Tiina Lillak Ilse Kristiina ('Tiina') Lillak (born 15 April 1961) is a Finnish former javelin thrower. She is the 1983 world champion and 1984 Olympic silver medalist. She also twice broke the world record, with throws of 72.40 metres in 1982 and 74.76 metr ...

bettered her mark with her last throw of the contest. A few days before the 1984 Summer Olympics, Whitbread had a stomach operation but was still able to travel to the Games and compete. She finished in the bronze medal position, with , and Sanderson () won gold. Lillak, who had a stress fracture in her right foot, won the silver medal. After the result, Whitbread commented that "I am so disappointed... I was not right on the night." At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in July, Whitbread broke the Games record twice during her first three throws, and led with a distance of , before Sanderson achieved and won. Whitbread sat down crying on the field after the result for around 30 minutes. After the medal ceremony, she commented, while still visibly upset: "12 years of hard work. Still no oldmedal... I've waited two long years since he 1984 Summer Olympics And now I'm humiliated." Sanderson, who had placed behind Whitbread in all of their seven post-1984 Olympics meetings before the Games, said "I don't mind losing to Fatima in the smaller competitions, but not in the big ones."

World record, and European and World championship wins

The following month, Whitbread broke the javelin world record with a throw of in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Championships, more than 2 m further than the record set by

Petra Felke Petra Meier ( Felke; born 30 July 1959) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. Representing East Germany, she became the Olympic Champion in 1988 and broke the world record four times between 1985 and ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

the previous year. She was the first British athlete to set a world record in a throwing event. Felke led for the first three rounds, before Whitbread produced a throw of in the fourth round, and in the fifth round (the second-longest throw of all time by a woman, at that point) to win her first major championship gold. Whitbread later wrote that "All the years of training had finally come to something... I went on my lap of honour... Spontaneously, I wiggled my hips in happiness, a victory wiggle." The record was beaten by Felke in July 1987 with a throw of . Whitbread qualified for the final of the 1987 World Championships in second place behind Felke. Her throw of was, at the time, the third-longest ever, and won her the title ahead of Felke. Sanderson was fourth. Her celebratory wiggles after defeating Felke in the World and European event became well known in the UK. She was voted winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in 1987. David Powell wrote in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', that "To that practiced smile, she has added the 'Whitbread wiggle'. She is succeeding in bringing personality to her event in the same way that

Willie Banks William Augustus Banks III (born March 11, 1956) is an American athlete. Born at Travis Air Force Base, California, he grew up in San Diego County and went to Oceanside High School. Banks is an Eagle Scout. Track and Field Banks was a track & ...

did to the triple jump."

Later career

In the months leading up to the

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, Whitbread suffered from several ailments: a shoulder injury,

boils A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, which is an infection of the hair follicle. It is most commonly caused by infection by the bacterium ''Staphylococcus aureus'', resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by ...

, glandular fever and problems with her

gums The gums or gingiva (plural: ''gingivae'') consist of the mucosal tissue that lies over the mandible and maxilla inside the mouth. Gum health and disease can have an effect on general health. Structure The gums are part of the soft tissue l ...

. Whitbread won the silver medal behind Felke, with a throw that, although her best of the season, was some four metres less than her rival. Whitbread commented "If I had to be beaten, I am glad it was by Petra." Whitbread's later career was affected by a long-term shoulder injury, which she believed dated back to her world record throw in 1986. The

was the last event that she participated in, and she sustained a further shoulder injury there. In 1992 she formally retired from competition.

Rivalry with Tessa Sanderson

Alan Hubbard wrote in a 1990 article in ''The Observer'' about Whitbread and Sanderson that "their hate-hate relationship has been one of the most enduring in British sport," lasting almost a decade. In 2009, Tom Lamont commented in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' that "Whitbread and Sanderson were always uneasy rivals and the enmity that developed during their overlapping careers became as famous as their achievements, and seems to survive in their retirement." Hubbard cited Sanderson's perception that Whitbread received preferential treatment from the British Amateur Athletic Board. The Board's promotions officer, Andy Norman, who had a role in setting British athletes' fees, was a family friend of Whitbread and her mother. In 1985, Whitbread often participated in international events but Sanderson took part in only one in the season up to June 1985. Sanderson claimed that this was because she lacked supporters in the meetings where representatives were determined; she said that "Fatima has Andy Norman looking after her in meetings ... and, of course, her mother, Margaret, is the national event coach". In 1987, Sanderson threatened to boycott six official athletics events, for which she was to be paid £1,000 each by British Athletics compared to Whitbread's £10,000. Sanderson also objected to the Whitbreads' endorsement of Howland, who competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games after a two-year doping suspension, since Howland was Australian, and Sanderson felt they should have supported British athletes instead. During their respective careers, Whitbread gained one world and one European title; Sanderson won an Olympic and three Commonwealth golds. In all, Sanderson placed higher in 27 of the 45 times that they faced each other in competition, although Whitbread had the better results of the pair from 1984 to 1987. In 1993, coach Peter Lawler favourably compared Whitbread's technique to Sanderson's, writing in ''IAAF New Studies in Athletics'' that "the alignments of Whitbread and ickHill are as straight as a cricket text book's bat. Whitbread perfected the turning on to the shaft while Sanderson often sagged through the delivery."

Personal life

Whitbread wrote in her 2012 autobiography that she began a personal relationship with Norman shortly after his divorce in 1986. In 1993, journalist

Cliff Temple Clifford Geoffrey Temple (29 January 1947 – 8 January 1994) was a leading British athletics journalist, author, commentator and coach. For many years he was the athletics correspondent of ''The Sunday Times''. He committed suicide after being ...

investigated claims that members of the Chafford Hundred Athletic Club, which was run by Whitbread and included leading athletes personally managed by her fiancé Norman, received preferential treatment from Norman in his role as promotions officer of the British Athletics Federation (BAF). Temple authored an article in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'' suggesting that there could be a conflict of interests. Temple took his own life in January 1994. It emerged during the inquest into Temple's death that Norman had threatened and falsely smeared him. Norman spread rumours that Temple had sexually harassed

Shireen Bailey Shireen Bailey ( Hassan; born 27 September 1959) is an English former middle distance runner who competed in the 800 metres and the 1500 metres. She represented Great Britain in both events at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. In 1983, she became ...

, whom Temple coached. Bailey denied the claims. Norman was dismissed from his job as promotions officer for the BAF following the federation's inquiry into the matter. The inquest concluded that although the end of Temple's marriage was a contributing factor to his suicide, that the allegations by Norman were the other factor, and had "tipped the balance". In 1997, Whitbread married Norman in Copthorne, West Sussex. The couple, who had a son together, divorced in 2006. Norman died of a heart attack in 2007. Whitbread has published two autobiographies written with Adrianne Blue, ''Fatima: The Autobiography of Fatima Whitbread'' in 1988, and ''Survivor: The Shocking and Inspiring Story of a True Champion'' in 2012.

Honours and awards

Whitbread was runner-up to Nigel Mansell in the 1986 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, and won the title the following year. She was named the Sports Writers' Association Sportswoman of the Year in 1986 and 1987. She was appointed a

(MBE) in the

, for services to athletics.

In media

Whitbread has been a guest on television programmes including '' A Question of Sport'' (on which she first appeared in 1984), '' The Little and Large Show'' (1987 and 1988) and '' The Wright Stuff'' (2012). In 1989, she was one of the celebrities with experience of fostering or adoption who took part in ''

Find a Family ''Find a Family'' is a British television programme that aired between 1989 and 1991 across the ITV network. The programme was an appeal to rehome disadvantaged children for adoption or long-term fostering. It usually took the form of a serie ...

'' on ITV. The series featured the celebrities' own reflections, and also highlighted specific children, inviting viewers to contact the programme if they were interesting in fostering or adopting them. In January 1995 Whitbread was interviewed by Andrew Neil, on his one-on-one show '' Is This Your Life?'' on Channel 4 which included discussion of Cliff Temple's suicide. Writing in ''The Guardian'', Nancy Banks-Smith described how Whitbread had "stonewalled with stoicism and without sweating" and been unclear in her answers about this. Whitbread also spoke about her unhappiness at how Ben Johnson had been treated after being found

doping Doping may refer to: * Doping, adding a dopant to something * Doping (semiconductor), intentionally introducing impurities into an extremely pure semiconductor to change its electrical properties * Aircraft dope, a lacquer that is applied to fabr ...

with

steroids A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...

. Neil's treatment of Whitbread attracted viewer complaints. She was a featured "masked celebrity" on '' Celebrity Wrestling'' in 2005, and lost her bout against

Victoria Silvstedt Karin Victoria Silvstedt (born 19 September 1974)''Expressen'', 29 October 2004. is a Swedish model, actress, singer, and television personality.Victoria Silvstedt Official Homepage, victoriasilvstedt.com, 8 May 2010. Early life Born in Skellef ...

. In November 2011, Whitbread took part in the ITV show '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' Whitbread and fellow campmate Antony Cotton left on 2 December 2011, placing her third. One of the challenges on the show involved her wearing a helmet containing about 7,500 cockroaches. The segment was halted after one of the insects crawled up her nose. It was removed by flushing it out through her mouth with water. In 2012, she was a regular fitness expert appearing on ''

This Morning This Morning may refer to: * ''This Morning'' (TV programme), a British daytime television programme * ''This Morning'' (radio program), a Canadian radio show which aired from 1997 to 2002 * '' CBS This Morning'', an American morning show, succe ...

''. Later that year, the stand-alone documentary ''Fatima Whitbread: Growing Up in Care'' featured Whitbread's reflections on her own troubled childhood, and her conversations with others who had experienced serious problems from their parent and problems with the UK care system. In ''The Guardian'', David Stubbs wrote "More emotional than forensic, this is compulsory viewing nonetheless." In 2020, she trekked the

Sultans Trail The Sultans Trail is a long-distance footpath from Vienna to Istanbul. It is long. The path passes through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, East Macedonia and Thrace in northern Greece, and Turkey. History Sultans ...

for BBC Two's '' Pilgrimage: Road to Istanbul''.

Career statistics

International competitions

The table shows Whitbread's performances representing Great Britain and England in international competitions. (q) Indicates overall position in qualifying round.

National titles

*1977

(intermediate) *AAA Junior Championships (under 17): 1977 *6 times AAA champion:

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987 *8 times UK Athletics Champion:

, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988

Publications

* *

Television and radio

Notes

References

External links

IOC profile

Team GB profile

World Athletics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitbread, Fatima 1961 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners English female javelin throwers English adoptees English autobiographers English people of Greek Cypriot descent English people of Turkish Cypriot descent European Athletics Championships medalists Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists People educated at Torells School People from Chadwell St Mary People from Stoke Newington Sportspeople of Turkish Cypriot descent Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Sportspeople from Essex Women autobiographers World Athletics Championships winners I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants