Margaret and her husband eventually fostered Whitbread, who changed her surname, Vedad, by deed poll. At 14, she finally had a family, which included the Whitbreads’ two young sons. “That was amazing, the best thing that happened, to be a part of a family, which I’d always wanted,” she says. “It wasn’t straightforward, because all families have their problems. Both as mum and daughter and athlete and coach, we worked it out somehow – and we conquered the world.” In 1979 Fatima Whitbread became the first British thrower to win a European Junior title and in 1981 she broke into world class, improving from 60.14m to 65.82m. Fatima became British No 1 in 1982. She took silver at the 1983; she had led from her first throw but was beaten by world record holder Tiina Lillak of Finland on the last throw verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Fatima Whitbread was born on 3 March, 1961 in London, United Kingdom. Discover Fatima Whitbread's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is She in this year and how She spends money? Also learn how She earned most of networth at the age of 62 years old? Popular As

Is she angry at the system that failed her so spectacularly? “Well, it does make me …” She pauses. “Even today, some of the crazy policies – ousting kids [from care] at 16 is appalling. My son still lives at home; he’s 25. At 16, these are vulnerable kids.” At present, councils are allowed to put 16- and 17-year-old children in unregulated accommodation, although a ban on the practice will come into force in October. “For a lot of young kids, history starts repeating itself: they start getting in trouble, or offending, and it costs the state a whole lot more. These young kids need that support, because once they get out there they’re easily preyed upon. They’re still kids.” She broke the world record with a throw of 77.44m in the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, becoming the first British athlete to set a world record in a throwing event. I would often sit with Maria at many championships around the world long after I retired. We shared many proud moments watching our women succeed. I doubt that many will be able to appreciate our leading women pioneers that we had in our sport. Whitbread was aware of the comments in the media about her muscular physique. Did she care about that? “It’s tools for the job,” she says of her body. Had she been taller, maybe her muscles wouldn’t have been so noticeable, but she was “stubby”, she says, laughing. “But I didn’t care, because I loved what I did and that’s what it took for me to succeed. I didn’t take notice; I was just proud of my work ethos. But sometimes they could be unkind.”

I was fortunate to find the love of the Whitbread family at 14,’ explaining this came about through sport being her ‘saviour’. Is she married? Fatima Whitbread was born on the 3rd day of March 1961 and was christened Fatima Vedad at birth. Her biological mother was of Turkish Cypriot descent while her father was a Greek Cypriot. She was not loved or wanted by her mother and was abandoned till neighbors called in a rescue team. Fatima spent the next four months after her rescue to recuperate from dehydration and malnutrition in the hospital. Fatima lived the next fourteen years of her life in halfway homes and welfare centers. Fatima appeared on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2011, which saw McFly’s Dougie Poynter crowned King. Whitbread began training hard. “I started taking more responsibility for myself,” she says. “You have a whole lot of people that help you, but I’ve got to get myself out at 5am, down the gym, three times a day training, seven days a week.” She trained in a wooden shed at the bottom of the garden of a family friend. She smiles when she talks about how different facilities are now: “I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I loved every minute of it.”

The next year, Fatima went on to win the 1987 World Championships, and took part in the 1990 UK Athletics Championships before she formally retired in 1992. She worries about the cost of living crisis, inequality and poverty: “The kids are the ones that are getting the damage done.” It was known as our athletics family – we all felt seen, heard and embraced. Magical memories for all those that competed in those years of women’s athletics! As a baby, Whitbread was abandoned in a flat in London and essentially left to die. After hearing her cries, neighbours called the police. Whitbread recovered in hospital from malnutrition, dehydration and her terrible physical condition, then spent her childhood in children’s homes. “I felt this deep sense of loss within me,” she says. When she was five, she was introduced to her biological mother – having had no idea of her history – and moved to a children’s home in Essex, where she had two half-siblings. “That was the first time I started questioning what was going on in my life and what was to become of me.”Paul Burrell, Phil Tufnell, Amir Khan and Jordan Banjo make up the main list, though ITV has confirmed further names will make a surprise appearance throughout the series. I am proud to be amongst some of the very best of British women athletes that helped to bring athletics out of amateurism into professionalism and created a platform from which our current day athletes benefit from today. I was also proud to be representing our Women’s AAA and English Athletics under a remarkable president Maria Hartman. She was a force of nature who single handedly helped to create a successful competitive program for ‘her girls’ as she would call us.

Friends creator reveals Matthew Perry was ‘happy and chipper’ in final conversation before tragic death at 54Fatima proceeded to Dilkes County Primary School in her early years and attended Culverhouse Secondary School after that. Carving A Niche The 61-year-old won a silver medal representing Britain in the javelin throw at the Olympics in Seoul 1988, having won bronze in 1984 in Los Angeles. LA was great from a British point of view," Whitbread tells OSM, "but for me it was affected by the absence of East Germany's Petra Felke, the best in the world at that time. Our distances weren't comparable to hers. Had she competed too, Tessa, maybe, would have got the silver." Whitbread and Sanderson were always uneasy rivals and the enmity that developed during their overlapping careers became as famous as their achievements, and seems to survive in their retirement (Whitbread in 1992, Sanderson in 1997). Even the happy photograph above was an unwilling one, admits Sanderson: "The press gathered us together for a group picture, but really that photograph should have been of just me and my coach, Wilf." 3. Tessa Sanderson The influence of the WAAA in creating a mechanism for women’s athletics can be seen in Whitbread’s career. In her own words, Fatima recalls her memories of some of the women who inspired her and helped shape journey:

Fatima Whitbread’s national titles include WAAA Junior Champion (U17) and 6 time WAAA Champion, along with European Junior Champion, medalling at successive Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth Games between 1982 and 1988 and breaking the women’s javelin world record in 1986. Donna Hartley was the Golden Girl of our time which helped Maria to bring in much needed sponsorship for the Women’s AAA and in doing so provided us all the opportunity to compete in against the best of the rest in the world. We also had some amazing women officials who turned up at every event around the country voluntarily to help stage these marvellous events. Sport saved her, she says. “It gave me a sense of freedom, forgetting all the problems that were going on in the home and the life we were living. It gave me a sense of achievement, that here was something I was good at. I got validation from my PE teachers and my school friends and started to realise life was a bit more positive. I realised that this could be my way out.” Whitbread with Ferne McCann on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2022. Photograph: Pete Dadds/Channel 4/PA Fatima took bronze at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and in 1986 at the European Championships took gold and became a record breaker with a throw of 77.44m which added over 2 meters to the previous world record held by Petra Felke of the GDR, making her the first British thrower to break a world record.

Awards and Achievements

As a child in the 80s, I say, I loved watching Whitbread and Sanderson – so strong and powerful, like warrior goddesses. She smiles: “I think there were a lot of people who felt like that.” In the latest of the many lives of Fatima Whitbread, the former champion javelin thrower has become a formidable reality TV star – and it suits her. She is surely one good show away from “beloved” status, which might prove to be the I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! spin-off in which she is soon to star, alongside a select group of other former participants in the ITV show.