Colin Jackson: Welsh Sporting Legend
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Colin Jackson’s Life New Hurdles is a thought-provoking book which details Jackson’s life from his modest beginnings in Wales to becoming a British Olympic Hurdler at 110 metres and the challenges that occurred when his athletics career ended. Jackson describes how he enjoyed sport, but he never considered himself to be good at anything. Athletics became an integral part of his life from his school days. He spent most of his life dedicated to his career, which included training, diet, commitment and, of course, winning medals.
Jackson describes his childhood, challenges, his change of direction at 35 years of age and the lessons he learnt along the way. This book consists of eight chapters; Jackson tells the story of his life so eloquently through each chapter, capturing moments of elation and moments of sadness. The first chapter describes his last Professional race, which was in March 2003.
The following chapters describe his family background, his parent’s ambitious standards. He went to the best secondary school in Wales, which produced the best athletes. New career changes occurred, which included a documentary with the BBC, setting up an Education Programme for the BBC. He also describes meeting and interviewing famous sports personalities, which included Daley Thompson, Kelly Holmes and Sally Gunnell. Jackson highlights the challenges of working for the BBC and being on the receiving end of resentment and jealousy. The impact of learning new skills in his job role, which involved lots of reading, adjusting to new routines and discovering new things about himself.
In general, this book is an enjoyable read, considering it only 65 pages long. Jackson details the highs and lows of being an athlete, new challenges and adjusting to new routines and lifestyle changes. Jackson's resilience is highlighted throughout the book, and he does not shy away from challenges which arise, particularly around his new career change. It sums up Jackson concisely, strong, determined and ready to face all obstacles
