Du'aine Ladejo (born 14 February 1971, in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, London, England) is an English-born

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

and television personality. In his sports career, he was best known for winning the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

sprint gold medal at the 1994 European Championships and being a member of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and England 400-metre relay squads at the European Championships, Olympics and Commonwealth Games during the 1990s. Ladejo is of mainly Nigerian ancestry Since retiring from athletics, he has appeared on several television shows including '' Gladiators'', where he is known by his Gladiator alias Predator. Ladejo is also the founder of Du'aine's Fit4Schools, an organisation which raises funds to promote health and fitness in schools. He now works full time as the head of Track & Field at Knox Grammar School,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Athletics career

At the 1994 European Championships, Ladejo won gold medals in both the 400 metres and the 4 × 400 metres relay. He won the individual sprint in 45.09 seconds, beating his compatriot and defending-champion Roger Black into second place. Ladejo also won the 400 metres gold medal at the European Indoor Championships in both 1994 and 1996. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games, he won a 400 metres silver medal (finishing runner-up to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

's Charles Gitonga) and a 4 × 400 metres relay gold medal. At the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, Ladejo won two medals in the 4 × 400 metres relay – a silver medal in 1996 and a bronze medal in 1992. Following the

1996 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, ...

, Ladejo switched his focus to other athletics events, though he never enjoyed as much success as he did in the 400 metres. He tried his hand at the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 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 ἄ ...

, in which he finished seventh at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

, and also competed in the 400-metre hurdles. During his athletics career, Ladejo trained with

Birchfield Harriers Birchfield Harriers is an sport of athletics, athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England. As well as welcoming recreational runners they cater for all levels of experience up to and including Olympi ...

Media career

For a period during his athletics career, Ladejo also presented a TV show, ''Du'aine's World'', on

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

.Predator at gladiatorszone.co.uk
/ref> In the early 2000s, Ladejo competed in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV sports show '' Superstars'', winning the competition in 2004 and finishing runner-up to Alain Baxter in 2005. Ladejo also appeared on the ITV reality TV show '' Celebrity Love Island'' in 2005. Ladejo is the creator and owner of the television show Australia's Greatest Athlete '' Australia's Greatest Athlete''. It aired in 2009, 2010 and 2011 on Network television station Channel 9 and Channel 7 in Australia. It was repeated on Fox sports channel. He is also the owner of the brand and Trademark Greatest Athlete. In 2008, Ladejo joined the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

revival of the TV show '' Gladiators'', competing under the Gladiator alias "Predator".It was essential Saturday night viewing in the 90s and now it's back!
/ref>

Education

Ladejo started his education at Forest Grange School in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, before going on to King Edward's School, Witley. He completed his high school education in the United States at Medina High School in

Medina, Ohio Medina ( ) is a city in Medina County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It lies about south of Cleveland and west of Akron, Ohio, Akron within the Cleveland met ...

, where he graduated in 1988. He then went on to study radio, television and film at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, graduating in 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladejo, Du'aine 1971 births Living people English male sprinters British male sprinters People from Paddington Athletes from the City of Westminster Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain People educated at King Edward's School, Witley Birchfield Harriers European Athletics Championships medalists English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Gladiators (2008 British TV series) Black British sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics