Noel ThatcherMBE 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]
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]
Careeredit
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]
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]
^"Hall of Fame Inductees 2009". England Athletics. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
External linksedit
England Athletics Hall of Fame
April 10, 2024
noel, thatcher, british, paralympic, runner, represented, united, kingdom, paralympic, games, between, 1984, 2004, collecting, total, five, gold, medals, career, highlights, winning, gold, setting, world, record, barcelona, 1992, winning, race, sydney, 2000, a. 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 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 Noel ThatcherMBEPersonal informationEducationExhall Grange SchoolOccupation s British paralympic runner 1984 2004 PhysiotherapistSpouseYumiMedal record Para athleticsRepresenting Great BritainParalympic Games1988 Seoul B2 800m1992 Barcelona B2 1500m1996 Atlanta T11 5000m1996 Atlanta T11 10000m2000 Sydney T12 5000m1984 New York Stoke Mandeville B3 400m1988 Seoul B2 1500m1992 Barcelona B1 B3 4 400m relay1992 Barcelona B2 800m2000 Sydney T12 10000m Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Honours 5 References 6 External linksEarly life editThatcher 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 editHe 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 editThatcher 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 editHis 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 10 He was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 11 References edit Noel Thatcher Archived from the original on 20 January 2012 Retrieved 20 January 2012 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Youth Sport Trust a b c d Sports Legacy Initiative News Vision Charity Archived from the original on 21 September 2012 Retrieved 6 April 2012 Medallists New York Stoke Mandeville 1984 Paralympic Games Athletics International Paralympic Committee Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 16 August 2022 Medallists Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games Athletics IPC Retrieved 16 August 2022 IPC Historical Results Archive Athletics at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games IPC Retrieved 16 August 2022 Results Archive Atlanta 1996 Athletics International Paralympic Committee Medallists Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Athletics IPC Archived from the original on 2 February 2016 Retrieved 16 August 2022 Results Archive Athens 2004 Athletics Men s 5000 m T12 IPC Retrieved 16 August 2022 Results Archive Athens 2004 Athletics Men s 10000 m T13 IPC Retrieved 16 August 2022 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 editEngland Athletics Hall of Fame Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Noel Thatcher amp oldid 1175612549, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
