William "Will" Sharman (born 12 September 1984) is a British athlete who specialises in the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...

. He started his career as a junior

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 and

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...

, but focused entirely on

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

after a shoulder injury. He made his international debut for Great Britain at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

and went on to compete at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, ...

. Sharman came to prominence in 2009, after he significantly improved upon his previous personal best and finished fourth in the 110 metres hurdles final at the 2009 World Championships. This would be the first of three consecutive appearances in the World Championship final, he's since finished fifth in both the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

finals. Initially coached by

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

, he was a timekeeper for the UK television series ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

''. He is also a classically trained pianist and holds two university degrees.

Career

Junior career

Sharman was born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

on 12 September 1984 but his family moved shortly after to the United Kingdom and he grew up in

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

, Northamptonshire.Turnbull, Simon (30 August 2009)
Meet Britain's bolt from the blue
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Retrieved on 3 September 2009. His first experiences of track and field competition were as a junior

er and

, the referee for the UK television series ''

'' and coach of former

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder

Dave Moorcroft David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as t ...

, urged him to focus on athletics. Training at Corby Athletics Club, he began competing in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

and

and he became the No. 1 ranked under-20 British athlete in both disciplines. At the

Amateur Athletic Association The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britai ...

(AAA) under-20s championships in 2003, he won the decathlon. His first major junior competition was the

2003 European Athletics Junior Championships The 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships was held in Tampere, Finland from 23 to 27 July 2003. A total of 44 events were contested; 22 by men and 22 by women. Germany had the biggest medal haul with nine golds and a total of 26, closely fol ...

, where he finished fifth in the 110 m hurdles final.William Sharman UKA profile

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

. Retrieved on 4 September 2009. He competed at the 2004 AAA meeting and finished third in the hurdles, behind

Robert Newton Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for hi ...

and Paul Gray. At the

2005 European Athletics U23 Championships The 5th European Athletics U23 Championships were held in Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part o ...

, Sharman was just outside the medals with a fourth-place finish. A shoulder injury that year had impaired his

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

ing ability and he made the decision to abandon the decathlon to focus solely on

Senior breakthrough

Sharman performed well on the British athletics circuit in 2006, winning three of the hurdles races building up to the

, and also winning at the AAA under-23 competition with a personal best of 13.49 seconds. As a result, he was selected for the Great Britain team for the event, his first major championships. However, he did not progress beyond the heats of the 110 m hurdles and finished fourth, beaten to the qualification spot by Dániel Kiss. The following year represented a breakthrough into the senior circuit, as he was invited to the Birmingham Indoor Games and other high-profile meetings.William Sharman Power of 10 profile
Power of 10. Retrieved on 4 September 2009. Sharman moved to

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 ...

and began to train with Polish hurdles coach George Maciukiewicz. He finished third at the UK Championships, both indoors (

60 metres hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds ( Susanna K ...

) and outdoors, beaten by Andy Turner and Allan Scott both times. He competed at the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bislet ...

in 2007 where he ran his season's best of 13.68 seconds, making him the second fastest British athlete that year after Turner. He attended the

but only reached the semi-finals of the competition. In 2008, Sharman again finished behind Turner and Scott at the national Olympic trials, but he was optimistic about making the qualification standard of 13.55 seconds for the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. Ultimately, however, his best of the season was a wind-aided 13.59 s thus he was not included in the British Olympic squad.William Sharman Profile
Power of 10. Retrieved on 3 September 2009.

First World Championships and Commonwealth Games

At the British trials for the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

he finished fourth with a disappointing 14.08 seconds, making selection seem unlikely. However, he was a last-minute call up for the British team: he was not included in the original line-up but he set a new personal best of 13.44 seconds 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 ...

in July, making the "A" qualification standard for the event. He was the fifth fastest qualifier in the heats of the 110 m hurdles, but he made more of an impact in the semi-finals: the favourite in the race,

holder

Dayron Robles Dayron Robles (born 19 November 1986) is a Cuban track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metre hurdles. He won his first major medal (a silver) in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. He finished the 2006 se ...

, pulled up injured and Sharman emphatically won with a personal best of 13.38, celebrating as he crossed the finish line. In the final race he finished in fourth position with another best of 13.30 seconds, becoming the second surprise performer of the final after winner

Ryan Brathwaite Ryan Brathwaite (born June 6, 1988) is a track and field athlete from Barbados who won the gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. In recognition of his achievements, on September 17, 2009 Brat ...

.Mulkeen, Jon (20 August 2009)
Event Report – Men's 110m Hurdles – Final

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2009-09.04. The fourth-place finish made him the fastest European in the final, equalling Turner's European season's best, and placed him at number five on the all-time British list. His performance at the event was singled out as one of the highlights of the British team: he made the biggest improvement by a British athlete in terms of ranking, having been ranked 103rd in the world at the start of the year. Following the World Championships, Sharman stated that a gold medal at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

would be one of his aims for the future. He performed well on the athletics circuit, finishing just a hundredth behind David Payne at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

and taking a close fourth place at

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond L ...

. A wrist injury ruled Sharman out of competition at the start of 2010, but he returned in time for the national championships and defeated Andrew Turner to lift his first outdoor title. Their fortunes were reversed at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

as Sharman was disqualified in the semi-finals while Turner won the competition. The pair duelled again at the

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 ...

in New Delhi. A stomach bug affected him during the event but he managed to complete and English podium sweep alongside Turner and Lawrence Clarke, taking home the

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 ...

– his first at a major international competition. In 2019 he competed in the first of three dads races at English Martyrs Catholic Primary school in Derbyshire, winning by a comfortable margin from Peter in second and Dave in third, both of Long Eaton.

Personal life

In addition to being a world-class international

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, Sharman has a diverse range of other talents: he plays the

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

, is a classically trained pianist, has a university degree in economics from

Leicester University , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

and a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in banking and finance from

. He was also a

timekeeper A timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time. Person A timekeeper is a person who measures time with the assistance of a clock or a stopwatch. In addition, a timekeeper records time, time taken, or time remaining duri ...

for the ''Gladiators'' television series. His brother, Richard Sharman, is also an international sportsman and he competed at the 2007 Bobsleigh World Championships. His father David Sharman was also involved in sport, previously playing

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

, in addition to being a professional pianist. Though his sister Sarah Sharman followed in the sporting tracks, she went down the artistic route to become a dancer/actor. Sharman is a family man with three children. In his free time, Sharman likes to engage in martial arts. He appeared in the BBC Horizon documentary "The Truth About Exercise" in 2011.The Truth About Exercise
Retrieved on 11 October 2015.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF and Power of 10 profiles.

References

External links

* * * *

profile fo
William Sharman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharman, William 1984 births Living people People from Corby Sportspeople from Northamptonshire Athletes from Lagos British male hurdlers British male sprinters English male hurdlers English male sprinters Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Alumni of Loughborough University Alumni of the University of Leicester Black British sportsmen Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games