Fatima Whitbread

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Olympic medal record
Women's Athletics
Bronze	1984 Los Angeles	Javelin
Silver	1988 Seoul	Javelin
IAAF World Championships
Gold	1987 Rome	Javelin

Fatima Whitbread MBE (born 3 March 1961) was an English javelin thrower of Turkish Cypriot extraction who broke the World Record with a throw of 77.44m in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Championships (where she also won the final) and became World Champion in 1987. She became well-known in the UK for her celebratory wiggle after defeating arch-rival Petra Felke in these events. Her performances in 1987 led to her being voted winner of the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Whitbread had previously won the silver medal at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She was also well-known for her rivalry with fellow English javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson, who won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles with Whitbread finishing in bronze medal position. In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Whitbread won the silver medal behind Felke, who had broken the world record in the interim.

She was once a governor of King Edward VI Grammar School, close to her home in Brentwood, Essex.

Preceded by: Nigel Mansell

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1987

Succeeded by: Steve Davis