Jonnie Peacock of Great Britain wins the Men's 100m - T44 final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
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Silver medalist Richard Browne of the United States , Gold medalist Jonnie Peacock of Great Britain, Bronze medalist Arnu Fourie of South Africa pose on the podium during the victory ceremony for the Men's 100m - T44 Final at the London Paralympics
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Jonnie Peacock made a global name for himself after a mesmerising 2012 which saw him break a long standing world record, become Paralympic champion in front of his home crowd and go from relative unknown to household name.
At the end of June 2012 the then 19 year old Peacock became the world’s fastest amputee sprinter when he won the US trials in 10.85 seconds. His time was 0.06 second faster than the previous T44 record set in 2007 by USA’s Marlon Shirley and was also faster than the 10.91 mark set by South African T43 sprinter OscarPistorius also in 2007.
Peacock followed up his world record time months later by taking Paralympic gold in front of 80,000 people in the Olympic Stadium at London 2012. His time of 10.91 was a Paralympic record, however what was more impressive was the field of athletes he beat whilst under immense pressure to secure a home gold for Great Britain.
Since London 2012, Peacock has seen his profile rise dramatically appearing in many high profile publications as well as talkshows. He is now one of Britain’s most high profile sport stars.
Born in Cambridge in 1993, Peacock had his right leg amputated below the knee aged five after contracting meningitis. Inspired by watching Oscar Pistorius compete in Beijing in 2008, Peacock attended a British Paralympic Association talent identification programme soon after and in no time was competing in major events.
He won bronze at the 2010 London Disability Athletics Challenge at Crystal Palace and then finished fifth at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand.
