Fatima Whitbread

World record, and European and World championship wins The following month, Whitbread broke the javelin world record with a throw of in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Championships, more than 2 m further than the record set by Petra Felke of East Germany the previous year. She was the first British athlete to set a world record in a throwing event. Felke led for the first three rounds, before Whitbread produced a throw of in the fourth round, and in the fifth round to win her first major championship gold. Whitbread later wrote that "All the years of training had finally come to something... I went on my lap of honour... Spontaneously, I wiggled my hips in happiness, a victory wiggle."

Whitbread qualified for the final of the 1987 World Championships in second place behind Felke. Her throw of was, at the time, the third-longest ever, and won her the title ahead of Felke. Sanderson was fourth. Her celebratory wiggles after defeating Felke in the World and European event became well known in the UK. She was voted winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in 1987. David Powell wrote in The Times, that "To that practiced smile, she has added the 'Whitbread wiggle'. She is succeeding in bringing personality to her event in the same way that Willie Banks did to the triple jump."

Later career In the months leading up to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Whitbread suffered from several ailments: a shoulder injury, boils, glandular fever and problems with her gums. Whitbread won the silver medal behind Felke,

Whitbread's later career was affected by a long-term shoulder injury, which she believed dated back to her world record throw in 1986. The 1990 UK Athletics Championships was the last event that she participated in, and she sustained a further shoulder injury there. In 1992 she formally retired from competition.

Rivalry with Tessa Sanderson Alan Hubbard wrote in a 1990 article in The Observer about Whitbread and Sanderson that "their hate-hate relationship has been one of the most enduring in British sport," lasting almost a decade. Hubbard cited Sanderson's perception that Whitbread received preferential treatment from the British Amateur Athletic Board. The Board's promotions officer, Andy Norman, who had a role in setting British athletes' fees, was a family friend of Whitbread and her mother. In 1985, Whitbread often participated in international events but Sanderson took part in only one in the season ending in June 1985. Sanderson claimed that this was because she lacked supporters in the meetings where representatives were determined; she said that "Fatima has Andy Norman looking after her in meetings ... and, of course, her mother, Margaret, is the national event coach". In 1987, Sanderson threatened to boycott six official athletics events, for which she was to be paid £1,000 each by British Athletics compared to Whitbread's £10,000. Sanderson also objected to the Whitbreads' endorsement of Howland, who competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games after a two-year doping suspension, since Howland was Australian, and Sanderson felt they should have supported British athletes instead.

During their respective careers, Whitbread gained one world and one European title; Sanderson won an Olympic and three Commonwealth golds. In all, Sanderson placed higher in 27 of the 45 times that they faced each other in competition, although Whitbread had the better results of the pair from 1984 to 1987. In 1993, coach Peter Lawler favourably compared Whitbread's technique to Sanderson's, writing in IAAF New Studies in Athletics that "the alignments of Whitbread and [Mick] Hill are as straight as a cricket text book's bat. Whitbread perfected the turning on to the shaft while Sanderson often sagged through the delivery."

Personal life Whitbread wrote in her 2012 autobiography that she began a personal relationship with Andy Norman shortly after his divorce in 1986. The couple, who had a son together, divorced in 2006. Norman died of a heart attack in 2007.

Whitbread has published two autobiographies written with Adrianne Blue, Fatima: The Autobiography of Fatima Whitbread in 1988, and Survivor: The Shocking and Inspiring Story of a True Champion in 2012.

Whitbread is a Christian but, in her own words, "not devout."

Honours and awards Whitbread was runner-up to Nigel Mansell in the 1986 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, and won the title the following year. She was named the Sports Writers' Association Sportswoman of the Year in 1986 and 1987. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1987 Birthday Honours, for services to athletics. Whitbread received the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award, for "outstanding achievement in the face of adversity". She was awarded Freedom of the Borough by the mayor of Thurrock Sue Shinnick and leader of Thurrock Council Lynn Worrall in 2025, alongside her mother Margaret.

In September 2025, Whitbread was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university of Roehampton.

In media Whitbread has been a guest on television programmes including A Question of Sport (on which she first appeared in 1984), and The Wright Stuff (2012). In 1989, she was one of the celebrities with experience of fostering or adoption who took part in Find a Family on ITV. The series featured the celebrities' own reflections, and also highlighted specific children, inviting viewers to contact the programme if they were interesting in fostering or adopting them. Neil's treatment of Whitbread attracted viewer complaints.

She was a featured "masked celebrity" on Celebrity Wrestling in 2005, and lost her bout against Victoria Silvstedt.

In November 2011, Whitbread took part in the ITV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Whitbread and fellow campmate Antony Cotton left on 2 December 2011, placing her third. One of the challenges on the show involved her wearing a helmet containing about 7,500 cockroaches. The segment was halted after one of the insects crawled up her nose. It was removed by flushing it out through her mouth with water.

In 2012, she was a regular fitness expert appearing on This Morning. In 2020, she trekked the Sultans Trail for BBC Two's Pilgrimage: Road to Istanbul.

In 2023, she appeared in I'm a Celebrity... South Africa, placing third again after losing the penultimate trial to camp mates Jordan Banjo and Myleene Klass.

Career statistics

International competitions The table shows Whitbread's performances representing Great Britain and England in international competitions. (q) Indicates overall position in qualifying round. +Fatima Whitbread's javelin throw record

1978 Commonwealth Games Edmonton, Canada 6th 49.16 m 1979 European Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland

58.20 m 1980 Olympic Games Moscow, Soviet Union 18th (q) 49.74 m 1982 European Championships Athens, Greece 8th 65.10 m 1987 World Championships Rome, Italy

76.64 m AAA Junior Championships (under 17): 1977 6 times AAA champion: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987 8 times UK Athletics Champion: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988

Publications

Whitbread, Fatima (2024). My Bright Shining Star (words&pictures)

Television and radio +Television and radio appearances by Fatima Whitbread YearProgramme Role 1984, 1986 A Question of Sport guest 1985 Cockney Darts Classic guest 1989 Find a Family participant 1995 Is This Your Life? guest 2011 I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! contestant 2011Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contestant 2012 This Morning fitness expert 2012 The Wright Stuff guest 2012 Pointless Celebrities guest 2012 Fatima Whitbread: Growing Up in Care herself 2015 Eternal Glory participant 2017 Pointless Celebrities guest 2019 Holiday of My Lifetime guest 2019 Pointless Celebrities guest 2020 Pilgrimage: Road to Istanbul participant 2023I'm a Celebrity... South Africaparticipant

Explanatory notes