Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu, (born 30 December 1978) is a British athlete who specialised in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

and was active at elite level between 2000 and 2014, with his greatest success coming between 2006 and 2011. He is a former World Outdoor (2009) and Indoor (2008), European Outdoor (2010) and Indoor (2007), Diamond League (2011) and Commonwealth Games (2006) triple jump champion. He was also a silver medalist at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. Idowu is a member of the London-based Belgrave Harriers athletics club and has been for much of his career. Despite his successes, Idowu had suffered by comparisons with his senior compatriot

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...

, and had been at times accused of inconsistency and of failing to fulfil his potential, including his disappointing injury-affected failure at the London Olympics 2012. His championship record since 2007, especially his gold medal at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, addressed some of these criticisms; by the end of his elite career, the Olympic Games was the only major championship gold to have eluded him, with a silver medal his best return in 2008.

Career

Idowu grew up in Hackney, and was a talented sportsman at school in both basketball and

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

, yet he was most successful as a junior in athletics. In 1997 he came to attention as a triple jumper when he won the English Schools Championships and the under-20s

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

title, rounding off the year by coming fourth in the European Junior Championships. Idowu's success continued in 2000, when he was ranked in the top 10

ers in the world and placed sixth in the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. In 2001 he won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, though later that year his form was found wanting at the World Championships in Edmonton. His first major international medal came when he won silver at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

, setting a new personal best of 17.68 metres but losing to world record holder and compatriot

. Later in 2002 he placed 5th in the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. In 2012, Idowu defeated world champion Christian Taylor at a Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.

Injury

A knee injury that required surgery ruled Idowu out of the whole 2003 season. His aim was to return to form in 2004 to compete at the Olympic Games in Athens.

Championship success

In March 2006, Idowu triumphed at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, winning gold. However, he failed to maintain this form and once again finished in 5th place at the

later that year. In 2007, in the absence of world leader

Christian Olsson Christian Olsson (born 25 January 1980) is a former Swedish athlete competing in high jump and triple jump. He won an Olympic gold medal, one gold and one silver medal in the World Championships and two gold medals in the European Championship ...

, Idowu beat compatriot Nathan Douglas to gold in the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The Intern ...

in Birmingham. He recorded a championship record jump of 17.56 m, beating Olsson's world-leading jump by 12 cm. Idowu went on to win the

IAAF Golden League The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes who won specific events at all of the series meetings were awarded a jackpot prize ...

Bislett Games in June 2007 with a distance of 17.35 m. By July 2007 he was ranked the number three triple jumper in the world, a new career high. On 9 March 2008, Idowu won his first world title, taking the gold medal at the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008. Bid Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Rus ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain. His jump of 17.75 m also broke the British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Indoor record previously held by his compatriot and former adversary Jonathan Edwards, who presented him with his medal at the ceremony. Despite his successes at the Indoor Championships and Commonwealth Games, Idowu decided to change coach, switching from John Herbert to

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

medalist Aston Moore. Reflecting on his choice, Idowu stated: "now is the right time to make a change as I develop and move forward". Phillips Idowu Berlin 2009

Idowu won the men's triple jump title at the 2008 British Olympic Trials with a distance of 17.58 m, at the time the longest outdoor jump of 2008. He followed this up with further jumps of 17.57 m and 17.27 m. Idowu took silver in the men's triple jump at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

behind World Champion Nelson Évora after arriving at the games as the favourite. His best jump was 17.62 m, achieved in the third round. In an interview with Reuters, Idowu expressed disappointment at having won only silver, though he displayed good humour and also looked forward to the next Olympics in London. Idowu missed the start of the 2009 athletics season due to a knee injury. On Tuesday 18 August 2009 he won the World Championships in Berlin with the longest jump of anyone so far this year and an outdoors personal best distance of 17.73 m, again having his medal presented by Jonathan Edwards. In July 2010 he broke his triple jump personal best jumping 17.81 metres at the Barcelona

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

to win gold. Idowu 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

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

"for services to athletics".

2012 Summer Olympics

Idowu was battling for fitness coming into the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in his native London, and had not jumped competitively for nearly three months. Idowu struggled and could not make it past the qualifying round of the triple jump, ending his hopes of a medal.

2013–14

After receiving leg surgery in autumn 2012, Idowu continued to struggle with fitness and form during 2013. In July 2013 he announced that he was "taking a step back" from the sport "for the foreseeable future", a step that some interpreted as tantamount to retirement. However, Idowu returned to top-level international competition at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting in May 2014, after a spell of training and competition in Australia. Aged 36 in 2014, Idowu has not competed internationally since that season.

Personal life

Idowu was educated at

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

, where he studied sports sciences. Idowu is known to the public for his eccentric personality, sporting a variety of hair colours, an array of facial piercings and trademark booming laugh. Other than triple jump, Idowu also enjoys basketball. He has a daughter, D'Karma (born 2007), and a son, Prince (born 2010). Both his parents are Nigerian. In 2013, Idowu joined

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer known for his sarcasm, irony, and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ...

Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the Wee ...

Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English broadcaster and author. He has been a presenter on BBC Radio 1 since 2007, hosting shows including his old drive-time show and the station's flagship breakfast show. Since 201 ...

Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...

and

Chelsee Healey Chelsea Jade Healey (born 6 August 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the roles of Janeece Bryant in the BBC school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2012, 2023), Honey Wright in the BBC medical drama series ...

in ''Through Hell and High Water'', a

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

challenge which involved British celebrities canoeing the most difficult rapids of the

Zambezi River The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

. They raised over £1 million for the charity. He also appeared in the 2013 edition of '' Celebrity MasterChef, ''being eliminated in the second round. In 2013 Idowu was banned from driving for two years and ordered to complete 50 hours community service after being caught

drink driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

by police.

Personal bests

International competitions

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Idowu, Phillips 1978 births Living people Athletes from the London Borough of Hackney English male triple jumpers British male triple jumpers Olympic male triple jumpers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Diamond League winners European Athlete of the Year winners Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Brunel University London Black British sportsmen English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games British Diamond League winners Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics