Richard Whitehead (athlete)
Richard Whitehead with his Paralympic Gold medal at the Our Greatest Team Parade
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born |
19 July 1976 Nottingham |
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |
 Great Britain
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| Sport | Running |
| Achievements and titles | |
| World finals | 2012 London 200m – 24.38s (WR) |
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Medal record
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Richard Whitehead MBE (born 19 July 1976) is a British athlete. He runs with prosthetic legs, as he has a double through-knee congenital amputation.
He holds the world record for athletes with a double amputation, in both the full and half marathon. At the 2010 Chicago Marathon, he broke his previous world record for athletes with lower-limb amputations, with a time of 2:42:52.
Whitehead was unable to compete in the marathon at London 2012 as there was no category for leg amputees, and was refused permission by the IPC to compete against upper-body amputees and so had to turn to sprinting to compete at the 2012 Paralympics, where he won the gold medal in the 200m T42 Athletics event with a world record time of 24.38 seconds.
His earlier career was a swimming teacher at Clifton Leisure Centre in Nottingham. He is a former ice sledge hockey player, and competed for the GB team at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin.
Whitehead was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to athletics.
Whitehead was appointed the first-ever patron of Sarcoma UK, the bone- and soft-tissue cancer charity, on 28 January 2013 [1]
Richard is also a patron of Gedling Sports Partnership, a charity that promotes sport and Physical Education in the borough of Gedling.
His name was added to the Nottingham City Transport bus service "Pathfinder 100" on 18 September 2012; the bus links his home village of Lowdham with Southwell and Nottingham.
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