Benjamin Arthur Challenger (born 7 March 1978) is a retired English

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. His personal best jump of 2.30 metres was achieved when he won the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football, ceremonies * Arena Son Moix — volleyball * Pavelló Son Hugo — swimming, diving, ...

. His career highlight is a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the 1998

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. Born in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, Challenger attended Shepshed High School and later he studied

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

(a course he later abandoned in favour of full-time high jump training). As a youth he considered a career in basketball, and toured the US with the

Leicester Riders Leicester Riders are a British professional basketball team and the oldest club in the British Basketball League (BBL). Established in 1967, the club have played in various locations around Leicestershire before moving to their current purpose- ...

, leading to offers from

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

talent scouts acting for US universities, which he turned down. He is the son of the

Showaddywaddy Showaddywaddy are a rock and roll group from Leicester, England. They specialise in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, while also issuing original material. Showaddywaddy spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and had 10 T ...

drummer,

Romeo Challenger Romeo Alexander Challenger (born 19 May 1950) is an English musician who has been the drummer for the rock band Showaddywaddy since 1973 and seminal Progressive Rock band Black Widow. Biography Challenger was born 19 May 1950 in St. John's, ...

, and the brother of singer Tamzin Challenger. Challenger is married to recruitment consultant and fitness instructor Lucy. Together they run Studio Challenger in Berkshire, a pilates school.

Competition record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Challenger, Ben 1978 births Living people Alumni of Loughborough University Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England English male high jumpers English sportspeople of Antigua and Barbuda descent Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Olympic athletes of Great Britain Sportspeople from Loughborough Universiade gold medalists for Great Britain Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)