Noel Thatcher Explained

Noel Thatcher
Education:Exhall Grange School
Occupation:British paralympic runner
(1984–2004)
Physiotherapist

Noel Thatcher 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. 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.[1]

Early life

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.[2]

Career

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, winning silver in the B3 400m.[3]

At the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, Thatcher won gold in the B2 800m and silver in the B2 1500m, behind Mariano Ruiz of Spain.[4]

Four years later at Barcelona 1992, he took the gold medal in the B2 1500m; the silver in the B1-B3 4 × 400m relay alongside Simon Butler, Andrew Curtis and Mark Whiteley; and the bronze in the B2 800m.[5]

Thatcher was a double gold medal winner at Atlanta 1996, triumphing in the T11 5000m and 10,000m.[6]

At the 2000 Sydney Games, in the T12 class, Thatcher took gold in the 5000m and bronze in the 10,000m.[7]

Thatcher carried the flag for Great Britain at the opening ceremony of Athens 2004, and competed in the T12 5000m and T13 10,000m, narrowly missing out on a medal by finishing fourth in both finals.[8] [9]

Personal life

Thatcher met his wife Yumi while studying Japanese at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.[2] Away from athletics, Thatcher works as a physiotherapist at the Holly House Hospital in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.[2]

Honours

His achievements at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta led to him being appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours for services to athletics for disabled people.[2] He was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Noel Thatcher . 20 January 2012 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20120120214117/http://2012.youthsporttrust.org/noel-thatcher/index.html . 20 January 2012 ., Youth Sport Trust
  2. Web site: Sports Legacy Initiative - News . Vision Charity . 6 April 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120921010825/http://www.visioncharity.co.uk/sportslegacy/news.php . 21 September 2012 .
  3. Web site: Medallists New York / Stoke Mandeville 1984 Paralympic Games Athletics . . 16 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000258/http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/reports.php?type=event&criteria=0&games=1984PG&sport=2 . 4 March 2016 . dead.
  4. Web site: Medallists Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games Athletics . IPC . 16 August 2022 . 24 July 2013 . https://archive.today/20130724164413/http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/reports.php?type=event&criteria=0&games=1988PG&sport=2 . bot: unknown .
  5. Web site: IPC Historical Results Archive: Athletics at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games . IPC . 16 August 2022 . 15 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201015134950/https://db.ipc-services.org/sdms/hira/web/competition/code/PG1992/sport/AT . dead .
  6. Web site: Results Archive: Atlanta 1996, Athletics . International Paralympic Committee.
  7. Web site: Medallists Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Athletics . IPC . 16 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160202191249/http://www.paralympic.org/ipc_results/reports.php?type=event&criteria=0&games=2000PG&sport=2 . 2 February 2016 . dead.
  8. Web site: Results Archive Athens 2004 Athletics - Men's 5000 m T12 . IPC . 16 August 2022.
  9. Web site: Results Archive Athens 2004 Athletics - Men's 10000 m T13 . IPC . 16 August 2022.
  10. News: Hall of Fame Inductees 2009 . England Athletics . 11 October 2009 . 6 April 2012.