Josef Isaac Craig, MBE (born 17 February 1997) is a retired British Paralympic swimmer. Craig competed in S8 events and qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, winning gold in a world record time in the men's 400 m freestyle event.[1]
Craig was born in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear on 17 February 1997.[2] Craig, who has cerebral palsy, was introduced to disability swimming at the age of nine, before entering competitive swimming a few years later.[3] Noted as a swimming talent from a young age, and ear-marked for the Great Britain team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Craig's career suffered a setback when he was diagnosed with Graves' disease in 2011.[2] The condition, which affects the thyroid gland, caused severe weight loss in Craig, but after having his thyroid removed he quickly returned to swimming.[2] He is a supporter of Newcastle United FC.[4][5]
Career historyedit
Craig trained at the City of Sunderland Amateur Swimming Club. In 2012 he set five personal bests at the Paralympic trials for the 2012 Games in London and then won his first British medal with a bronze in the 100 m freestyle at the 2012 British Swimming Championships.[2] Later that year, at the British International Disability Championships, he improved again on his personal best to take the youth 100 m freestyle title. In the same tournament, Craig won gold in the men's youth 50 m, with a time of 29.95s, and bronze in the men's open 400 m challenge.[2]
Craig's performances in 2012 saw him selected for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. He was selected for four events, the 50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle and his favoured 400 m freestyle, all in the S7 class. Craig qualified for the final of the 50 m freestyle with a time of 29.48 seconds and then shaved almost a tenth of a second from this to finish 7th. He also qualified out of the heats in the 100 m event, finishing fourth with a time of 1:04.00. In the final he ended just outside the podium position with a fourth place and a time of 1:02.20. On 6 September in his final event, the 400 m freestyle, Craig set a new world record of 4:45.79 to take the fastest qualifying position in his morning heat.[citation needed] In the finals that afternoon he recorded a time of 4:42.81 to beat his own world record set earlier that day, and saw him finish first to collect the gold; his first Paralympic medal, making him Great Britain's youngest 2012 gold medal winner.[6] To commemorate his gold medal Royal Mailpainted a post box gold in his hometown of Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, and produced a first class stamp featuring a picture of him.[7] As a result of his success he was jointly awarded the North East Sports Personality of the Year award, along with Olympian rower Kat Copeland in December 2012.[8] Then, on 16 December, Craig was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year for 2012 at the BBC's main annual award.[9]
Initially classified as a S7 swimmer, Craig was reclassified in April 2014 as S8. His previous achievements continued to stand, but it meant that Craig would now compete in future events with swimmers deemed to have more mobility. His first major tournament after being reclassified was the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships, where he claimed three bronze medals, an achievement that Craig was pleased with.[12]
^"Paralympics 2012: Josef Craig claims 400m gold in record time". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
^ abcde"Meet the Team – Josef Craig". swimming.org. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
^"Josef Craig". Channel 4. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
^Nightingale, Lisa (29 September 2012). "Top treat for golden boy Josef". shieldsgazette.com. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
^Scanlon, Rob. "Josef Casts A Golden Eye". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
^Pearce, Nick (6 September 2012). "Paralympics 2012: Josef Craig wins gold for Great Britain in 400m freestyle and breaks his own world record". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
^"Josef Craig celebrated with gold Jarrow postbox". BBC News. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
^"Kat Copeland and Josef Craig share North East award". BBC Sport. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
^"Josef Craig wins BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year". BBC Sport. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
Josef Craig - Montreal 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships at the International Paralympic Committee
December 18, 2023
josef, craig, josef, isaac, craig, born, february, 1997, retired, british, paralympic, swimmer, craig, competed, events, qualified, 2012, summer, paralympics, winning, gold, world, record, time, freestyle, event, mbepersonal, informationfull, namejosef, isaac,. Josef Isaac Craig MBE born 17 February 1997 is a retired British Paralympic swimmer Craig competed in S8 events and qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics winning gold in a world record time in the men s 400 m freestyle event 1 Josef CraigMBEPersonal informationFull nameJosef Isaac CraigBorn 1997 02 17 17 February 1997 age 26 Hebburn EnglandSportSportSwimmingClubCity of Sunderland ASCCoachDanny ThompsonMedal record Men s swimmingRepresenting Great BritainParalympic Games2012 London 400 m freestyle S72016 Rio 100 m freestyle S8World Championships2013 Montreal 100 m freestyle S72013 Montreal 400 m freestyle S72013 Montreal 50 m freestyle S7European Championships2016 Funchal 400m freestyle S82016 Funchal 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts2014 Eindhoven 400M freestyle S82014 Eindhoven 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career history 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksPersonal life editCraig was born in Hebburn Tyne and Wear on 17 February 1997 2 Craig who has cerebral palsy was introduced to disability swimming at the age of nine before entering competitive swimming a few years later 3 Noted as a swimming talent from a young age and ear marked for the Great Britain team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro Craig s career suffered a setback when he was diagnosed with Graves disease in 2011 2 The condition which affects the thyroid gland caused severe weight loss in Craig but after having his thyroid removed he quickly returned to swimming 2 He is a supporter of Newcastle United FC 4 5 Career history editCraig trained at the City of Sunderland Amateur Swimming Club In 2012 he set five personal bests at the Paralympic trials for the 2012 Games in London and then won his first British medal with a bronze in the 100 m freestyle at the 2012 British Swimming Championships 2 Later that year at the British International Disability Championships he improved again on his personal best to take the youth 100 m freestyle title In the same tournament Craig won gold in the men s youth 50 m with a time of 29 95s and bronze in the men s open 400 m challenge 2 Craig s performances in 2012 saw him selected for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London He was selected for four events the 50 m freestyle 100 m freestyle and his favoured 400 m freestyle all in the S7 class Craig qualified for the final of the 50 m freestyle with a time of 29 48 seconds and then shaved almost a tenth of a second from this to finish 7th He also qualified out of the heats in the 100 m event finishing fourth with a time of 1 04 00 In the final he ended just outside the podium position with a fourth place and a time of 1 02 20 On 6 September in his final event the 400 m freestyle Craig set a new world record of 4 45 79 to take the fastest qualifying position in his morning heat citation needed In the finals that afternoon he recorded a time of 4 42 81 to beat his own world record set earlier that day and saw him finish first to collect the gold his first Paralympic medal making him Great Britain s youngest 2012 gold medal winner 6 To commemorate his gold medal Royal Mail painted a post box gold in his hometown of Jarrow Tyne and Wear and produced a first class stamp featuring a picture of him 7 As a result of his success he was jointly awarded the North East Sports Personality of the Year award along with Olympian rower Kat Copeland in December 2012 8 Then on 16 December Craig was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year for 2012 at the BBC s main annual award 9 Craig was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to swimming 10 11 Initially classified as a S7 swimmer Craig was reclassified in April 2014 as S8 His previous achievements continued to stand but it meant that Craig would now compete in future events with swimmers deemed to have more mobility His first major tournament after being reclassified was the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships where he claimed three bronze medals an achievement that Craig was pleased with 12 At the 2016 Rio Paralympics Craig won the bronze medal in the men s 100m freestyle S8 13 See also edit2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United KingdomReferences edit Paralympics 2012 Josef Craig claims 400m gold in record time BBC Sport Retrieved 6 September 2012 a b c d e Meet the Team Josef Craig swimming org Retrieved 6 September 2012 Josef Craig Channel 4 15 August 2012 Retrieved 6 September 2012 Nightingale Lisa 29 September 2012 Top treat for golden boy Josef shieldsgazette com Retrieved 29 July 2014 Scanlon Rob Josef Casts A Golden Eye Newcastle United F C Retrieved 29 July 2014 Pearce Nick 6 September 2012 Paralympics 2012 Josef Craig wins gold for Great Britain in 400m freestyle and breaks his own world record The Telegraph Retrieved 7 September 2012 Josef Craig celebrated with gold Jarrow postbox BBC News 8 September 2012 Retrieved 9 September 2012 Kat Copeland and Josef Craig share North East award BBC Sport 7 December 2012 Retrieved 19 December 2012 Josef Craig wins BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year BBC Sport 16 December 2012 Retrieved 19 December 2012 No 60367 The London Gazette Supplement 29 December 2012 p 24 Members of the Order of the British Empire PDF gov co uk Retrieved 29 July 2014 Josef Craig Classification switch was tough for Paralympic champ BBC Sport 14 August 2014 Retrieved 14 August 2014 Men s 100m Freestyle S8 Final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Archived from the original on 12 October 2016 Retrieved 11 August 2022 External links editJosef Craig at the International Paralympic Committee Josef Craig Montreal 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships at the International Paralympic Committee Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Josef Craig amp oldid 1171921655, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
