Olympic legend Colin Jackson says coach’s spouse and native butcher helped make him a star

Olympic icon Colin Jackson has always been a ray of sunshine. The legendary hurdler, now a TV fixture as a broadcaster and commentator, is all about a positive mindset when it comes to winning gold.

But it’s not just the sporting elite who deserve recognition. Here Colin tells Meg Jorsh about his new campaign with SPAR to celebrate the heroes in our communities…

Colin Jackson has overcome more than his fair share of hurdles. Growing up in Cardiff, he dreamed of becoming a cricket fast bowler – but says coaches refused to pick him because of his skin colour.

Rather than letting the racists put him off, he switched to the sport that would make him a star. His talent, drive and focus would take him to the top of the world hurdles league, winning him 12 gold medals, eight silver and a bronze.

He spent the last 10 years of his career as a world record holder in both the 60m and 110m races. But he didn’t reach the pinnacle of his sport alone.

Colin, whose parents are of Jamaican origin, always knew he could count on his family and coach Malcolm Arnold. But decades on, he’s still touched by the support he got from the wider community.

“There’s lots of things we kind of take for granted,” he says. “So the big things, like sponsors, you kind of expect that because they’re getting something back by endorsing you.”

One memory that sticks out is the butcher he would visit with his parents as a teenager, who wanted to make sure he was eating properly.

He says: “I was like, 15, 16, just really on the brink of it. And every time he’d go ‘take a couple of steaks for the lad now, keep him going, give him a bit of extra energy.

“‘Don’t forget to feed him that steak before he does any of his running.’ Totally getting absolutely nothing from it. It’s a simple thing that’s just a lovely, kind gesture.”

Colin also has fond memories of Malcolm’s wife, Madelyn, who was always there for him with a kind word and a snack. He trained with the former head coach at UK Athletics throughout his career, until he retired in 2003.

“I always said, I basically stole her husband, right?” he laughs. “Us and the rest of the training group, we always had his attention.

“But I tell you what, she was always there if we popped round the house, she was always encouraging us. ‘Just be cool, just be calm. It’ll be alright.’”

The athlete is now working with shop chain SPAR on their Everyday Champions campaign. Brits are invited to nominate the heroes in their local communities, for the chance to win them VIP tickets to the European Athletic Championships in Birmingham next month.

Colin, who will also be meeting the winners, says it’s the kind of feel-good initiative society needs at the moment.

He adds: “I think every day we’re in receipt of somebody’s kindness and we don’t necessarily acknowledge that. So this is our opportunity to acknowledge it, and then we’ll start to appreciate things a lot more, I feel.”

The sporting legend has seen the world change beyond recognition since he grew up in the 1970s. Back then, being an openly gay athlete would have been even more challenging.

But Colin, who came out in 2017, is aware of the struggles today’s youngsters face through his work as an athletics coach.

“I think now there are far more distractions,” he says. “I always say to my youngsters that I look after coach-wise, sometimes choice is the Devil. Because there’s so many things to kind of deviate you from your initial pathway.

“I don’t know if I would have had the same success, growing up now. I would have grown up a completely different person.”

In his case, it was boredom that allowed him to focus at the start of his career. When his mates left for university, he says, he threw himself into his training because he had “nothing else to do.”

“You’ve just got to have a reason,” he says. “You just find a little bit of passion for something and then you work hard at it, you develop new friends in that environment and it allows you to believe in what’s going on.

“And then if you’re lucky, the journey just keeps going upwards in the right trajectory.”

So does he miss his days of glory on the global stage, winning medals for Team GB? “Not at all,” he insists. “I’ve done it. It takes a lot of hard work. It takes a different person in you to do what is necessary to do what these guys are doing.

“So when I see them crossing the line I’m really excited, really happy at what they’ve achieved. But I’m happy being retired, staying back and just relaxing.”