Born and raised in Nottingham, UK with a double through- knee congenital amputation, Richard developed a passion for sport at an early age. His parents encouraged him to participate in sports and taught him to live a life without limits.

In 2004, he dreamt of running a marathon and signed up for the New York Marathon having never run a mile. Spurred on by the death of his best friend Simon, whom passed away with an aggressive form of bone cancer and also by amputee Terry Fox, who had died from a similar bone cancer before completing his own running challenge across Canada. Richard knew he wanted to run to challenge himself and to raise awareness and funds for Sarcoma.  At the time, he had no prosthetic running legs and was running on his knees using sports cups which was extremely gruelling and painful. At the 11th hour, only 13 days before the New York Marathon, Ossur heard about his story and fitted him with his first running blades and he successfully completed his first marathon. 

Driven by a desire to compete in sport as a professional athlete on the world stage and push boundaries, he was selected for the Paralympics GB  team as a sledge hockey player at the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in Turin.  

Having experienced the pride of representing his country, when news of London 2012 broke he was keen to compete in the marathon on home soil, however he was told by the IPC that his disability was not eligible to compete and despite writing to complain about this lack of equality they refused to allow him to race. 

Undeterred, he re-trained and set his sights on competing in the T42 200 metre category as part of the Paralympics GB team.  As he crossed the line winning Gold, he looked to the sky and dedicated his win to my friend Simon who had always supported and believed in him. 

Since then, Richard has become a Double Paralympic Gold medallist; current Paralympic Silver Medallist and 4 times World Champion and European Champion in the T61 200m. He is also the Marathon and Half Marathon World Record Holder. Richard has dedicated his life to sport and helping disabled people excel and achieve their aspirations; working with schools in his home county of Nottinghamshire across nations to the Syrian border. 

Over the years, thousands of people have reached out to Richard for support and inspiration. Based on the growing awareness of the inequalities disabled people face in accessing sport and benefiting from its associated social outcomes, he and the founding trustees established The Richard Whitehead Foundation in 2021.  The driving force being to identify and break down those barriers thus enabling disabled people to fulfil their life goals through sport and movement. 

“Starting the Richard Whitehead Foundation has been very important to me and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far and excited for everything that is to come. Ensuring people don’t face the same barriers I have and creating opportunities for disabled people is central to everything we do and I believe in.”

Richard Whitehead MBE