Fatima ; The Autobiography of Fatima Whitbread

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Fatima’s among those few individuals that have a such wide range of experience and remain true to whatever she embarks on. Margaret and her husband eventually fostered Whitbread, who changed her surname, Vedad, by deed poll. I shouldn’t have gone to that Olympics, but I managed to pull on all my reserves and I came away with the silver medal. After her are Peter Kauzer, Annekatrin Thiele, David Payne, Brigitte Yagüe, Fredrik Pettersson, and Aslı Çakır Alptekin.

Just two years later, in 1979, Whitbread was crowned European junior champion – becoming the first British woman to hold the title. She was on I’m a Celeb in 2011, when her nasal cavity became home to a cockroach during one of the challenges – “There’s definitely something wriggling about in there! Whitbread recovered in hospital from malnutrition, dehydration and her terrible physical condition, then spent her childhood in children’s homes. Much was made of her rivalry with the other British champion javelin thrower, Tessa Sanderson, who won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics (Whitbread took bronze). The start date for I’m A Celebrity… South Africa premieres in a matter of hours, and we can’t wait to see how the stars tackle the gruesome Bushtucker trials.Fatima continued to thrive and succeed within her sport, next winning a silver medal at the 1983 World Championships. Never friends, the pair were united for an evening, having "stuffed the rest of them for Great Britain". She seems content, although a long friendship ended recently, which has saddened her: “It’s not until something goes wrong in your life that everything else starts to come back and chase you.

Whitbread was slightly below par at the 1988 Olympics and finished in silver medal position with a throw four metres less than that of Petra Felke. Whitbread won gold in the javelin event at the 1979 European Athletics Junior Championships, throwing 58.Fatima’s instructor not only recognized her ability but also took her under her wing and eventually adopted her.

Whitbread, on the other hand, performed below average at the 1988 Olympics, finishing second with a throw four meters short of Petra Felke’s. In a 2003 interview with The Observer, she said, “It was a nightmare of a childhood and it was only because I loved sport so much that I got through it and met my true mother. which added over 2 meters to the previous world record held by Petra Felke of the GDR, making her the first British thrower to break a world record.

Fatima Whitbread’s national titles include WAAA Junior Champion (U17) and 6 time WAAA Champion, along with European Junior Champion, medalling at successive Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth Games between 1982 and 1988 and breaking the women’s javelin world record in 1986. This is an autobiography of Fatima Whitbread, the World Champion javelin thrower and 1987 Sportswoman of the Year.