Olympian Colin Jackson tips GB athlete to become household name at Paris 2024
Colin Jackson is tipping Charlie Dobson to be Team GB’s breakthrough athlete at the Paris Olympics.
Dobson won a 4x400m relay bronze medal at this year’s World Championships in Budapest. And former 110m hurdles world record holder Jackson believes the Essex sprinter, 24, can become a household name in the individual category next summer.
“He is incredible,” Jackson said. “People see him in relays a little bit and he’s been in the background. But he is one hell of an athlete.
"Every time I’ve watched him, even as a developing athlete, I’ve thought, ‘OK, let’s watch this young man because he has got the potential.’ Not just here but on the global scale. Certainly if he stays healthy he will make a big breakthrough.”
Yet the build-up to Paris is likely to be dominated by a number of British athletes falling short of the team’s stringent selection criteria. In Budapest GB’s smallest World Championships squad since 2003 matched the best-ever medal haul with 10.
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And within British Athletics that was viewed as justification for a policy that is so focused on medal contenders the governing body has been accused of hurting the development of those on the fringes.
But for Jackson, who says he will always take the athletes’ side in such debates, the stance is a source of frustration that could see athletes who narrowly miss out turn their back on the sport.
“I want athletes to go and experience major championships,” he added. “It gives you faith in the sport. There has to be a realistic goal to achieve. If it’s too far out of your remit, why are you even doing the sport?
Colin Jackson has high expectations for next year's Olympics in Paris.“People need to understand that we need to look and reset these standards to encourage participation. You don’t want people to quit the sport too soon because of this. I’m always anxious about the qualifying standards being out of reach for people.
"It can be really disheartening. It’s a vicious cycle. If you’re an athlete preparing for a championships, the last thing you want is uncertainty.
“It’s hopeless for preparation, disheartening. You want certainty and clarity, really clear instructions. If you’re on the fringes of qualifying for the team it really doesn’t help. You’re in limbo.
“No one enjoys that. You want as many people as possible to feel they can reach it. That’s always going to be the most important thing. Otherwise they will be discouraged. You see that in life. It’s not unusual for us to see people who give it up and move on to something else.”
Jackson was speaking in his role as international director of the Wings For Life World Run, the biggest one-day running event in the world which is again set to take place in May.
The event’s purpose is to make running more inclusive and Jackson added: “We didn’t want an intimidating event. If I asked my mother to run a marathon next week, that’s not going to happen.
“If I asked her to sign up and walk the Wings For Life Run with me, she’ll be more likely to be engaged. They need to understand the end. A catcher car sets off 30 minutes after you so just go out there and have a steady walk or run and you’re involved.
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"Once the car catches you, it’s the end. Now here we are for series 11 and last year we had 206,000 people, making us the biggest single-day running event in the world.”
Colin Jackson is the International Sports Director of the Wings for Life World Run, the largest running event in the world to sign-up click .
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