Inspirational Double Paralympic Champion T42 200m & Marathon WR Holder
England
United Kingdom
Richard Whitehead MBE is the World Record holder in full and half marathons, and one of the world’s best sprinters as the current Double Paralympic and World Champion in the T42 200m.
Many people say Richard is an inspiration. Richard says that he’s simply an athlete, who has been given the opportunity to run. As a double leg amputee, life is full of challenges, but that’s never got in Richard Whitehead’s way. Since that first marathon in 2004, Richard has run more than twenty marathons, not to mention competing at the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in sledge hockey.
In 2009, he became the first leg amputee (single or double) to break the three hour mark for a marathon, a world record he has now lowered to 2 hours, 42.54 minutes. He also broke the half marathon world record with an incredible run of 1 hour, 14.14 minutes.
Richard won Gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the T42 200m and successfully defended his title in Rio in 2016 breaking World Records on the way aged 40 years old.
Richard’s aspirations are far bigger than just winning races. He wants to make a difference. To prove that even though he has a disability, he has overcome barriers that have been put in front of him. Following gold medals at the IPC World Championships and Anniversary Games (200m T42), Richard completed the challenge of a lifetime – running 40 marathons in 40 days, from John O’Groats to Land’s End. He ran a total of 977 miles for his two chosen charities, Scope and Sarcoma UK.
Career Highlights
Richard believes that sport is about more than winning medals. It’s about being the best you can be. Working with a group of people who have helped Richard become the best he has established a high performance training and mentoring business for elite athletes.
He is inspiring others to believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. He believes that he has learnt a lot from elite sport and that it is not a straightforward journey. He is focussed on helping other athletes through performance mindset and lifestyle mentoring to find their own way of achieving their full potential.
Richard is passionate about motivating other to achieve success. His ability to act as a role model and his work to encourage others to follow in his success has led to Richard being a brand ambassador for a number of well known companies that include BP, Nissan, Virgin Media and Össur.
"It's not all been rosy; I've had difficult situations where I have failed. But when you fail you learn a lot about yourself and come back stronger. The message is: life need not have limits. Having an opportunity is important but what you do with that opportunity is what defines you."
"My legacy is using 'The Power of Sort' to inspire others"