Fatima Whitbread MBE

Fatima Whitbread is a former World Champion javelin thrower who successfully won silver and bronze at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Aside from her history in sports, Fatima also holds a reputation for her outspoken advocacy for children's welfare - having suffered abuse and lived in care as a child. Now hired as a motivational speaker, Fatima not only shares her stories of glory as a former professional sportswoman but also her emotive stories of overcoming childhood adversity.

One of Fatima’s greatest achievements is when she broke the javelin world record, with an astonishing throw of 77.44m at the 1986 European Championships. Due to such an incredible performance at these events, Fatima was crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Fatima continued to thrive and succeed within her sport, next winning a silver medal at the 1983 World Championships. During her time competing in Javelin, Fatima built a budding rivalry with Tessa Sanderson, something which motivated them both to work hard and to push themselves to the limit. Fatima has also found herself starring in television shows. In 2009 she appeared on the celebrity version of Total Wipeout and then featured in Celebrity Come Dine with Me in 2011. Later in that year, Fatima also featured on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on the Christmas time edition. Fatima has also starred in a number of game shows as well, such as Pointless Celebrities in 2012, Olympians edition of The Cube in 2012, Celebrity Blockbuster in 2014 and Eternal Glory in 2015. Most memorably, Fatima was a contestant in the 2011 series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, later starring on the 2023 I'm a Celebrity... South Africa version of the show. Fatima finished in third place on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, narrowly beating fellow campmate Anthony Cotton to the spot.

This stint on the popular reality show gained Fatima a great deal of attention from the public eye, subsequently leading to her landing a succession of other roles when returning from the show. Most recently, she has starred in the 2022 series of SAS: Who Dares Wins? continuing her appearances on prime-time television. In addition to her television appearances, Fatima has also shared her story of overcoming adversity in her two autobiographies Fatima: The Autobiography of Fatima Whitbread and Survivor: The Shocking & Inspiring Story of a True Champion. She has also starred in the documentary Fatima Whitbread: Growing Up in Care and acts as an Ambassador of Action for Children, further demonstrating her advocacy for the correct care of children and the elimination of child abuse.

Eloquent, articulate and concise when hired as a motivational speaker, Fatima Whitbread is well known for her intrinsic motivation, overcoming severe adversity and not using it as an excuse for failure. Her grit and determination is undoubtedly the predominant catalyst towards her success as a motivational speaker. Having most recently claimed the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Face of Adversity, Fatima has undoubtedly left a considerable legacy in the world of sports.