Noel Thatcher
Noel Thatcher | |
---|---|
Education | Exhall Grange School |
Occupation | British paralympic runner (1984-2004) Physiotherapist |
Spouse(s) | Yumi |
Noel Thatcher MBE is a British Paralympic runner who represented the United Kingdom at six Paralympic Games between 1984 and 2004, collecting a total of five gold medals.
Life and career[]
Thatcher, who is visually impaired, attended a mainstream primary school where he encountered difficulties with his studies because of his vision. At ten he was sent to Exhall Grange School near Coventry, a specialist school for visually impaired students, and it was here that he developed his athletic skills. Thatcher has said that he was made to run five miles every day for a month as a punishment after he was caught smoking aged twelve, and this helped him to become a proficient runner.[1]
He made his athletics debut at seventeen at a national school championships after being persuaded to attend by a friend, and won a gold medal. He went on to represent the United Kingdom at the Paralympics in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, winning a total of five golds during that time. His two career highlights are winning gold and setting a world record at Barcelona in 1992, and winning the 5k race in Sydney in 2000, again setting a world record. At the 2004 games in Athens, he carried the flag for the Great Britain team at the opening ceremony.[2]
His achievements at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta earned him an MBE in the 1997 New Year Honours for his services to athletics for disabled people.[1][3] He was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.[4]
Away from athletics, Thatcher works as a physiotherapist at the Holly House Hospital in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.[1]
Personal life[]
Thatcher met his wife Yumi while studying Japanese at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b c d "Sports Legacy Initiative - News". Vision Charity. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ "Noel Thatcher". Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link), Youth Sport Trust
- ^ "No. 54625". The London Gazette. 31 December 1996. p. 23.
- ^ "Hall of Fame Inductees 2009". England Athletics. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
External links[]
- Living people
- English male long-distance runners
- Visually impaired track and field athletes
- British disabled sportspeople
- English people with disabilities
- Sportsmen with disabilities
- British physiotherapists
- Paralympic athletes of Great Britain
- Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain
- Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain
- Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
- People educated at Exhall Grange School
- Alumni of SOAS University of London
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)