Information About ™Colin Jackson |
|
Colin Ray Jackson (born February 18 , 1967 in Cardiff , Wales ) was a Sprint and Hurdling Athlete and now works as a Sports Commentator and Television Presenter predominantly for the BBC . He attended Llanedeyrn High School playing Football and Cricket for the county and Rugby and Basketball for his school. Under coach and close friend Malcolm Arnold he started out as a promising Decathlete before switching to high hurdles. Jackson now (as of April 2006) jointly holds the World Record for 110 Metre hurdles (with China's Liu Xiang ) with a time of 12.91 Second s set August 20 , 1993 in Stuttgart , Germany . He remains sole holder of the indoor world record at the 60 metre hurdles with a time of 7.3 seconds set in Sindelfingen , Germany on March 6 , 1994 . Jackson was a master of the "dip", the skill of leaning forward at the end of a race to advance the position of the shoulders and improve times (and potentially positions). It has been half-seriously estimated that some 50% of his races were won on the dip. Already the holder of the MBE that he received in 1990 for his services to athletics, in 1992 he appointed CBE . The English Reggae band Aswad name-checked him on their hit song Shine: ''Him a floating like a butterfly, the hurdling man - Yes, me-a-chat about Colin Jackson''. Since ending his professional career Jackson has been a coach, but in areas other than athletics. He currently coaches his close friend, swimmer Mark Foster . He was also one of the members of the successful London 2012 Olympic bid team. In 2005 he appeared as one of the celebrity contestants on the BBC TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing '', displaying a natural grace and talent for dance and reaching second place with his dance partner Erin Boag , after a neck-and-neck race in the final. BIOGRAPHY Colin Jackson: The Autobiography (BBC Books, 2003) ACHIEVEMENTS |