Brian Jacks

Despite winning Olympic, World, and European medals, judoka Brian Jacks was probably better known to a wider audience for his appearances on the BBC television programme “Superstars”, as he became a household name in the late 1970s.

Pitching his physical attributes against other elite sportspeople in a series of 10 testing disciplines, Jacks won the British, European, and international titles. Unfortunately, he never won the world title, with a third place in 1980 being his best finish. Jacks was well known for his arm dips and squat thrusts, breaking the world record in both disciplines. Despite his greater notoriety as a TV star, Jacks won many titles on the judo mat. He won the European junior middleweight title in 1964 and was third in the senior Championship. Also, he went to that year´s Tokyo Olympics.

Jacks retained his junior European title in 1965 and went on to win the senior title in 1970 and 1973, having won a bronze medal in the 1967 World Championship at Salt Lake City as he became the first British world championship medallist. In total, Jacks won six senior individual European medals between 1964-73. Additionally, he won three medals at the European Team Championships, and between 1969-78 was the British Open champion six times. When he won bronze at the 1972 Olympics Jacks, along with Dave Starbrook and Angelo Oarisi, were the first three Britons to win Olympic judo medals.

Jacks´ father was a Londen cab diver and, in an effort, to keep fit and protect himself, he took up judo, and this inspired his son to also take up the sport. By the time he was a teenager, the young Brian was showing potential, and with judo about to become an Olympic sport his father sent him off to Tokyo in 1961 to learn the art from the best in the world. Jacks left England on his 15th birthday. Jacks spent two years in Japan and upon his return made it into the Great Britain squad for the 1964 Olympics and he subsequently made the first of three Olympic appearances at Tokyo.

During his competitive days, Jacks was a member of the famous London Budokwai, and to earn money he worked at various night clubs in the capital. After his judo career Jacks trained to be a physical education teacher at the Avery Hill College in South-East London where the head of department was Joe Jagger, the father of the Rolling Stones singer Mick. Jacks eventually qualified and got a job teaching at Woolwich College but had to quit after being refused permission to take time off to appear in “Superstars”. Jacks later moved to Pattaya, Thailand, in the late 1990s and opened a complex of holiday rental properties.