Colin Jackson

Colin Jackson is famed for his talents as a former Olympic sprinter and hurdler, claiming countless victories representing Great Britain and Wales. Specialising in 110m hurdles, Colin broke numerous world records and finished his sporting career with 12 gold, eight silver and one bronze medal. Since retiring from competing, Colin has enjoyed a successful career in presenting, sports management and has become a well-known face across the screens of British television. He is also now booked as a speaker for corporate events, discussing the skills he had to hone in order to become successful in his sporting career.

Best known for his talents as an athlete, Colin is famed for setting the World Record for Men’s 110m Hurdles, the European Record for Men’s 110m Hurdles and the Indoor World Record for Men’s 60m Hurdles. With his European record still standing today, Colin held his 60m record for almost 27 years. Other prominent wins of Colin’s include winning silver in the 110m hurdles at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, two gold and two silver medals representing Wales at the Commonwealth Games and several gold medals at World Championships and European Championships.

With his final gold medal claimed at the 2002 Munich European Championships, Colin ended his career after the 2003 World Indoor Championships. After his retirement from competing, Colin went into coaching and he began training Mark Foster, Timothy Benjamin and Rhys Williams. He was also sought to begin media work, acting as part of the BBC athletics coverage during the 2012 London Olympic Games and co-hosting Born to Win. He has since been the face of Raise Your Game with Colin Jackson, featured on Who Do You Think You Are?, co-hosted Sunday Life and appeared on The Making of Me. He has also been a contestant on programmes such as Celebrity Masterchef, Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing On Ice.

Colin has also been involved with charity work, creating his own fundraiser called Go Dad Run raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK and Bowel Cancer UK. He has also become the International Director and Brand Ambassador of Sport 4 Kids, helping to transform sport for children across the country and become the Chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University. During his sporting career, Colin claimed awards such as Men’s Athlete of the Year and he has also been appointed MBE, OBE and CBE, a testament to the impact he has had in sport.

With a successful sporting career and media career under his belt, Colin is now a popular choice as an after-dinner speaker or host for corporate events. Throughout his career, Colin was hounded by rumours surrounding his sexuality, and after many years of hiding his true self, Colin came out as gay in 2017 as part of a documentary called Rainbow Heros. When booked as a speaker, Colin is able to speak about his sexuality and how he found the courage to reveal his identity after years of living in fear of how it would impact his career. With previous speaking clients including General Electric and Lloyds TSB, Colin Jackson is the perfect speaker when looking for an inspirational sportsman or passionate diversity and inclusion advocate.

"Colin delivered an outstanding performance. Colin is a natural talent who captivates the whole room from the first second." - General Electric

“Please can you pass back to Colin huge thanks for speaking at and essentially hosting our event. He was fantastic and couldn’t have been nicer – he spoke to and had photos with hordes of people after the event. He’s definitely a world champion speaker as well as a world champion athlete. His talk and Q&A session were absolutely gripping, fit the brief perfectly and left everyone feeling really inspired to reach for the things that really matter to us, turn mistakes and obstacles into stepping stones and put our whole selves into whatever we are trying to achieve. I found myself wishing I had means of taking notes! We’re all still buzzing.” - Sophie, Dentons

"His talk was delivered with humor and charisma. An outstanding inspirational and motivational speaker who captivated his audience." - The Cabinet Office

"Colin is a walking ball of energy and really energised the attendees. A first rate mix of inspiration, and motivation." - Lloyds TSB IT Service Delivery

“Colin, a huge thank you for being such a superb host for our National Training Award events. You hit just the right note, made the winners feel special and brought your own personal energy and enthusiasm to all the events. We were also delighted that your own skills development journey mirrored our aims and objectives so well. Thank you.” - National Training & UK Skills Awards

“The delivery and content of his presentation was excellent.  I have rarely, if ever, met anyone who is so generous with his time with every single person he meets. He has that rare ability to make each one feel so special.  Nothing is too much for Colin; his rapport with both children and adults is obvious from the moment he arrives.” - Herts Youth Games Association

“Colin was absolutely fantastic and both the clients & attendees loved him. I would definitely recommend him to others.” - IMS Health

“I just wanted to say thank you for yesterday. Colin was fantastic and I really appreciate him arriving on time, being fully briefed and ready to go. We had some really positive feedback on his speech from students, guests, tutors and our VIPs so please pass on our thanks.” - Manchester College

“The event went really well, Colin was amazing, really interesting, entertaining and funny and such a nice guy from the very moment he arrived." - Tina Paisley, The Exeter Foundation

“Colin Jackson was the perfect addition to our business event. He was extremely engaging, lovely to talk to and interacted with all our delegates following his keynote. Would highly recommend him as a speaker for any event!” - Helen Brady, Event Manager, Events Northern