CHALLENGER, Ben
High Jumper: Athlete and Trainer
Ben Challenger was born 7 March 1978 in Loughborough, Leicestershire. Now a Westminster ambassador for sports, Ben has been competing internationally for Great Britain for over ten years, including at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.His personal best jump of 2.30 metres was achieved when he won the 1999 Summer Universiade.
His career highlight todate is a bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Unfortunately injury had delayed him competing at the highest levels and he has recently recovered from a four year major injury run which included an Achilles rupture and surgery to his heel.
It took Ben almost two years to fully recover from his injuries and he has since been training and working hard, aiming for gold at the London 2012 Olympics. His trainer, Yannick Tregoro, is one of the most respected and revered jumping coaches in the world. In the run up to the Olympics, Ben started his intensive training with Yannickâs team in South Africa in December 2009 and January 2010 and spent a good part of March 2010 in Sweden with them.
Ben's entrepreneurial skills have been evident throughout his career including setting up his own personal training company, filming his 1st Fitness Beginners DVD and developing his own clothing range. Ben comes from a talented family: his father is Romeo Challenger, bass drummer for 70s band Shawaddy Waddy and his sister is Tazmine Challenger, a talented bassline and RnB singer.
"I'm now in the prime of my sporting life and the road to 2012 has started."