Fatima Whitbread

For other uses, see Whitbread (disambiguation).

Medal record
Women’s Athletics
Competitor for United Kingdom
Olympic Games
Silver	1988 Seoul	Javelin
Bronze	1984 Los Angeles	Javelin
World Championships
Gold	1987 Rome	Javelin
Silver	1983 Helsinki	Javelin

Fatima Whitbread MBE (born Fatima Vedad; 3 March 1961) is a British former javelin thrower and multiple medal-winner.

Early life

Fatima Vedad was born in Stoke Newington, 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, Whitbread 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."

At the age of 14 she was adopted by the Whitbread family and spent her teenage years in Chadwell St Mary, Essex. Margaret Whitbread, her javelin coach, had offered to take her in when she realised that Fatima was spending a lot of time with her family. She attended Dilkes County Primary School and the Culverhouse School (now the Ockendon Academy), both in South Ockendon, Essex.^{[citation needed]}

Career

She broke the javelin world record with a throw of 77.44m in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Championships in Athletics (where she also won the final) and became World Champion in 1987. She became well known in the UK for her celebratory wiggle after defeating arch-rival Petra Felke in these events. Her performances in 1987 led to her being voted winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Whitbread had won the silver medal at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She was also known for her rivalry with fellow British javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson, who won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles with Whitbread finishing in bronze medal position. In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Whitbread won the silver medal behind Petra Felke, who had broken the world record in the interim.^{[citation needed]}

She is a one-time governor of King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, Essex. According to a November 2008 Daily Express article, she owns her own company and is involved with the stadium being used after the 2012 London Olympics.

Personal life

In 1997, Whitbread married Andrew Norman in Copthorne, West Sussex.^{[citation needed]} They had a son, Ryan, who was born in the late 1990s. The couple divorced in 2006 after she discovered he was having an affair.

Andrew Norman, who represented many athletes professionally, died of a heart attack in 2007.

In media

She took part in a celebrity version of the TV show Total Wipeout which aired on 26 December 2009.^{[citation needed]} She took part in a celebrity version of the Channel 4 TV show Come Dine with Me which aired on 2 September 2011. Fatima appeared on a Christmas version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, on 19 December 2011, with Russell Watson playing for charity. It is reported that Fatima has been hired as This Morning's new fitness expert and will make her first appearance on 5 January 2012.

I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here

She took part in the ITV show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! which started airing from Sunday 13 November 2011. Both she and fellow camp mate Antony Cotton left after 21 days on 2 December 2011, she took third place ahead of Cotton.

External links

• Thurrock Local History Society - Fatima Whitbread

Sporting positions
Preceded by Petra Felke	Women's Javelin Best Year Performance 1984 – 1985	Succeeded by Petra Felke