Jonathan Peacock MBE (born 28 May 1993) is an English sprint runner... An

amputee Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

, Peacock won gold at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Ga ...

and

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

, representing

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

in the T44 men's 100 metres event. He won a Bronze medal at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paraly ...

Biography

Jonnie Peacock's gold postbox in Doddington, Cambridgeshire

Peacock was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and grew up in the village of Shepreth. At age 5, he contracted

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

, resulting in the disease killing the tissues in his right leg, which was then amputated just below the knee. Wanting to play

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, he was directed to a Paralympic sports talent day when he asked about disability sport in the hospital that fitted his prosthetic leg. His mother would carry him to school when his very short stump was too sore to wear his prosthetic leg. Peacock refers to his stump as his "sausage leg." Peacock ran his first international race at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester in May 2012. In June 2012 Peacock set a new 100 metres world record in amputee sprinting at the United States Paralympic track and field trials, recording a time of 10.85 seconds to beat the previous record held by Marlon Shirley by 0.06 seconds. This record was beaten in July 2013 at the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, ...

at the Stade du Rhône in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

when American athlete Richard Browne recorded a time of 10.83 in the T44 100m semi-finals. At the

, Peacock won the 100m T44 final with a time of 10.90 seconds, claiming the gold and the Paralympic record in the process. The win made his coach, Dan Pfaff, the only man to have coached 100m gold medalists in both the Olympics and the Paralympics; Pfaff coached Canada's Donovan Bailey, the gold medalist in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. Peacock pulled out of the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

due to a sore on his stump that developed over the summer. At the

, Peacock defended his title, winning gold in the T44 100m, in 10.81 seconds. From September 2017 Peacock was a contestant on

series 15 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

of the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

programme ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

'', becoming the first amputee paralympian to compete on the show. Partnered with Oti Mabuse, they were the eighth couple to be eliminated, at the show in Blackpool. Peacock appeared on the 15th Series of ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', which aired in 2018. Peacock was a late addition to the British team for the postponed

in Tokyo on 21 July 2021. The other additions were David Weir,

Kadeena Cox Kadeena Cox (born 10 March 1991) is a parasport athlete competing in T38 para-athletics sprint events and C4 para-cycling and British television presenter. She was part of the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships and the 2016 UCI Para-c ...

and Libby Clegg. He was part of the team to win silver in the Mixed 4 x 100m relay, also winning an individual bronze in the men's 100m T64. He shared the medal with Johannes Floors, after the pair finished in exactly the same time. In August 2021, Peacock made a guest appearance in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

''. His scenes involved comforting character Sid Sumner ( Billy Price) on insecurities about his recent amputation. His television series ''Jonnie's Blade Camp'' was screened on Channel 4 in August 2021. Peacock took part in the '' Taskmaster'' ' New Year Treat II', although he was absent from the studio segments due to illness.

Personal life

Peacock's long-term girlfriend is fellow paralympian Sally Brown, from Northern Ireland.

Honours

Peacock was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebra ...

for services to athletics.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock, Jonnie 1993 births Living people English male sprinters English amputees Sprinters with limb difference Paralympic athletes of Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics World record holders in Paralympic athletics Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Cambridge People from Shepreth Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Television presenters with disabilities