Paul Dickenson

In his youth Paul Dickenson was an outstanding athlete, which saw him win five consecutive English Schools titles in the hammer throw. Dickenson’s potential was spotted by his PE teacher when he was attending his local grammar school, who later went on to be his coach. In 1976 he was selected to compete at the Montréal Olympics, finishing 14th in the hammer with a best throw of 68.52 metres in the qualification round. Two years later Dickenson just missed out on a medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton when he finished fourth. He made his second appearance at the Olympics in 1980 in Moskva, where he came 15th in an event that was dominated by the Soviet and West German athletes. In 1982 he competed at another edition of the Commonwealth Games when he finished fifth in Brisbane.

Following his retirement from competitive sports Dickenson became a well-known sports commentator for the BBC. With the broadcaster he commentated on every edition of the Summer and Winter Olympics from 1992 to 2014. He commentated alongside some of the greats of British sport including David Coleman, Brendan Foster, and Steve Cram. In addition to the Olympics he also commentated on coverage of the World’s Strongest Man contest for more than a decade. Dickenson was forced to retire from his role behind the microphone after suffering a series of mini-strokes whilst covering the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia.

Personal Best: HT – 73.20 (1976).