Sam Ruddock
 Ruddock with Jim Edwards during the F35 Shot Put Final at the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships. | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel Ruddock | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Sam | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 February 1990 Rugby, Warwickshire | ||||||||||||||
| Education | International Relations (Bachelor of Arts) | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Loughborough University | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Disability | Cerebral palsy | ||||||||||||||
| Disability class | F35 | ||||||||||||||
| Event | Shot Put | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Charnwood AC | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Paralympic finals | Rio 2016 London 2012 | ||||||||||||||
| World finals | 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships | ||||||||||||||
| Regional finals | 2016 IPC Athletics European Championships 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships | ||||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking | IPC World Rankings - 3rd (2015-2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Personal best | 13.75m NR (SP4K) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Samuel (Sam) Ruddock (born 19 February 1990) is a Paralympic track and field athlete representing Great Britain in the F35 classification, for athletes suffering from cerebral palsy in the lower limbs. He is the current British Record holder for the F35 Shot Put.[1]
Early years
Ruddock was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a neuro-muscular condition caused by his premature birth. He attended Bishop Wulstan School to study at GCSE level, taking a profound interest in languages, history and politics. He found it difficult to play the predominant playground sport of football, due to a severe lack of lower body coordination. He however found great pleasure in basketball and cites films like Space Jam and Coach Carter as major influences on his extra-curricular ambitions in physical education. After completing his GCSE's, he took scholarship exams in 2006 and was subsequently offered a full academic scholarship to attend Rugby School to study English, History and Economics, as a day pupil in Town House.
Loughborough University
After completing his A-Levels, Ruddock chose to study International Relations at Loughborough University. He became immersed in the ethos of Loughborough campus life and took up American football alongside his studies, playing linebacker for the Loughborough Aces, as the only player with a physical disability in the British University League. In late 2011, his final year of study, he was approached by an athletics coach during one of the football team's quarterly combine testing sessions. The coach, Joe McDonnell, spotted Ruddock's impairment and offered to coach him in disability sprinting, singling him out for his speed and power over short distances.
[2] Ruddock was quickly brought through the talent identification ranks by British Athletics and within months of training was awarded his senior international debut for the Great Britain Paralympic Athletics team that would compete in London, having attended his first official competition event in April 2012.[3]
Post-University and Athletics
Having graduated with First Class Honours, Ruddock is currently training for the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo[4] and is employed as an Athlete Mentor for the Youth Sport Trust,[5] working with secondary schools to encourage pupils, to use the values and lessons learnt through sport, to better their academic performance.
During the earlier part of the 2013-2014 athletics season, Sam made the transition to the field events to further his medal prospects at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and was selected to represent Great Britain in the shot put for the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea. After producing a new lifetime best at the 2015 World Championships and a silver medal performance at the following 2016 Europeans, Sam was selected to compete at the Rio 2016 Games, finishing 6th in the final.
He is a big fan of the National Football League and WWE.
