Jonnie Peacock

Started: He took up Para athletics at age 16 in Cambridge, England. (Athlete, 06 Dec 2010) Reason: He got into the sport after attending a talent identification day. He tried a number of other sports before being invited for further testing in athletics. (runnersworld.co.uk, 22 Aug 2016; dailymail.co.uk, 05 Dec 2011) Ambition: To win gold in the T64 100m at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (independent.co.uk, 04 Oct 2023) Awards: He finished in third place in the 2017 BBC Sports Personality of the Year contest. (bbc.co.uk, 18 Dec 2017) He was named Disabled Sports Performer of the Year at the 2016 Living Sport Awards in St Ives, England. (wisbechstandard.co.uk, 25 Nov 2016) He was named Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE] in the 2013 New Year's Honours list. (glamourmagazine.co.uk, 29 May 2013) Additional Info: COACHING CHANGE Following his joint third-place finish in the T64 100m at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, he decided to shake up his coaching staff and began working with Benke Blomkvist in preparation for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. He had previously won back-to-back gold medals in the T44 100m at the 2012 and 2016 Games. "[Speaking in March 2023] The last two years were not good enough but my focus is back. I don't feel I have ever run as fast as I can and my aim has been to leave the sport with the times I want to leave behind as my very best. I look back at the Tokyo final and think there are so many things I could have done differently that day, so many things I could have done differently that season, and I would have won, 100%. That was not a representation of me out there. What gets to me is not what other people did but what I could have done. Change was needed and I brought in Benke Blomkvist. I can't wait to be the person I know I can be and we are preparing to make sure I am exactly that in Paris so I can reclaim my Paralympic title." (metro.co.uk, 27 Mar 2023) MUSEUM EXHIBIT In early 2021 one of his carbon fibre running blades was among the first exhibits to feature in the virtual Museum of Engineering Innovation. The museum, which works using QR codes placed in various locations around the United Kingdom, was set up as part of 'This is Engineering Day' to celebrate engineering accomplishments and inspire future engineers. "Whenever I wear my blade I get such a great response, particularly from children, able-bodied and disabled, who think it's really cool. I'd like them to know that I wouldn't be where I am today and have this super cool prosthetic leg if it wasn't for engineers and amazing feats of engineering, which is why I am supporting This is Engineering Day, to help demonstrate some of the many different ways engineering makes a difference and to inspire the engineers of the future." (fenlandcitizen.co.uk, 11 Nov 2020; ciht.org.uk, 21 Jan 2021) DOCUMENTARY He featured in the 2020 documentary film 'Rising Phoenix', which highlighted the stories of Paralympic athletes and their journey through the sport. "I was so excited at that first meeting. Their vision for it, what they wanted to do with it. How they were going to do it properly. I just jumped at it. It was incredible. I have always been of the mindset, 'Don't treat me as disabled. I will show you what I can do and we'll have fun with it'." (telegraph.co.uk, 25 Jul 2020) REALITY TV In 2017 he appeared on the British version of the competition television show 'Strictly Come Dancing', lasting nine weeks on the programme before being voted off. "Getting the opportunity to be the first disabled person to take part in the show was too big an opportunity to turn down. There was a lot I really wanted to push on that front. I wanted to go out there, show a blade one week and show kids that it can be cool. But I also wanted to put a pair of trousers on and, to people who perhaps don't know me, make them question which person was the disabled one. Question what an amputee could achieve. Could they lift? Could they do a Viennese Waltz? It's a different audience to the one that watches athletics so I wanted to change perceptions with that." (telegraph.co.uk, 01 Dec 2017) TIME OUT In late 2017 he revealed he was taking an extended break from the sport. He had planned the time away to refresh himself mentally prior to the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "I took the decision to have 2018 off years ago after seven years of back-to-back seasons when sport was my be-all and end-all. In elite sport you never really switch off - what you eat, what you drink and when you go to bed matters - so it's been nice to not have to think about those things. Taking that mental break was a big thing. I'm just enjoying it all again." (paralympics.org.uk, 02 Aug 2019; athleticsweekly.com, 15 Jul 2019)