Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Paddington, London | 14 February 1971|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Birchfield Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Du'aine Ladejo [1] (born 14 February 1971, in Paddington, London, England) is an English-born athlete and television personality. In his sports career, he was best known for winning the 400 metres sprint gold medal at the 1994 European Championships and being a member of the United Kingdom and England 400-metre relay squads at the European Championships, Olympics and Commonwealth Games during the 1990s. Ladejo is of mainly Nigerian ancestry [2]
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. [3] He now works full time as the head of Track & Field at Knox Grammar School, Sydney.[ citation needed ]
At the 1994 European Championships, Ladejo won gold medals in both the 400 metres and the 4x400 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's Charles Gitonga) and a 4x400 metres relay gold medal. [4] At the Olympic Games, Ladejo won two medals in the 4x400 metres relay – a silver medal in 1996 and a bronze medal in 1992.
Following the 1996 Olympics, 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, in which he finished seventh at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, and also competed in the 400-metre hurdles.
During his athletics career, Ladejo trained with Birchfield Harriers.
For a period during his athletics career, Ladejo also presented a TV show, Du'aine's World, on London Weekend Television. [3] In the early 2000s, Ladejo competed in the BBC TV sports show Superstars , winning the competition in 2004 and finishing runner-up to Alain Baxter in 2005. [5] 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. [6]
In 2008, Ladejo joined the Sky One revival of the TV show Gladiators , competing under the Gladiator alias "Predator". [7]
Ladejo started his education at Forest Grange School in West Sussex, 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, where he graduated in 1988. He then went on to study radio, television and film at the University of Texas, graduating in 1993.
Roger Anthony BlackMBE is an English former athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4 × 400 metres relay gold medals at both the World and European Championships.
Gregory Haughton is a Jamaican 400 metres runner. He won three Olympic medals, one at the 1996 Summer Olympics and two at the 2000 Summer Olympics. His personal best for the 400 m was 44.56 seconds.
Jennifer Elaine "Jenny" Stoute is English former sprinter. She represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where she won a bronze medal in the 4x400 metres relay. She also appeared as Rebel in the ITV show Gladiators from 1996 to 1999.
Marek Plawgo is a Polish athlete. He mainly competes in the 400 meters hurdles, but he also starts in the 400 meters and the 4 x 400 meters relay.
Nicola Clare Sanders is a former British track and field sprinter. She began her career as a 400 metres hurdles specialist before concentrating on the 400 metres from 2006 onwards. Her 400 metres personal best is 49.65 seconds. She holds the British indoor record with 50.02 seconds, which ranks her as the fifth fastest woman of all-time indoors.
Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi, MBE, known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British broadcaster and former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.
Derek Anthony Redmond is a retired British sprinter. During his career, he held the British record for the 400 metres sprint, and won gold medals in the 4x400 metres relay at the World Championships and European Championships.
Harry Leslie Aikines-Aryeetey is an English sprinter. In 2005 he was named as the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and the IAAF's Rising Star of the Year after becoming the first athlete to win gold medals at both 100 metres and 200 metres at the World Youth Championships.
Linda Staines is a female former British track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul in both the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay, and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1993 World Championships. She also won four medals at the Commonwealth Games, including an individual silver medal in the 400 metres in 1990 and two relay gold medals.
Matthew John "Matt" Elias is a retired Welsh athlete who specialised in the 400 metres sprint and 400 metres hurdles. During his international career he represented Great Britain. In 2003 he won a gold medal at the European Championships and at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens he finished 5th in the 4 × 400 m relay, He is also a part of Super Schools.
Michael Walter Mathieu is a retired Bahamian sprinter hailing from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running second leg and recording a 44.0 split, and the gold medal-winning team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also a part of second place relay team at the 2007 World Championships. He won the bronze medal in the 4x400 metres relay in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
David Colin McKenzie is a British track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1994 Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, along with teammates, Peter Crampton, Adrian Patrick, and Du'aine Ladejo.
Anyika Onuora is a British retired sprint track and field athlete who competed in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres, and also the 4×100 metres relay and 4x400 metres relay.
Mark David Hylton is a former British 400 metres sprinter. Hylton won a silver medal in the relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Brian Ian Whittle is a Scottish politician and former athlete, who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region since 2016. A member of the Scottish Conservatives, he serves as Shadow Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform.
Peter Crampton is a male former British athlete, born in Grimsby.
Angela Mary Gilmour is an English former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres and the 4 x 400 metres relay. In the relay, she represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, while at the Commonwealth Games, she won a silver medal in Edinburgh 1986 and a gold medal in Auckland 1990.
Matthew Hudson-Smith is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres and is the 5th fastest athlete of all-time over the distance. As of September 2024 he is ranked as the number one 400m runner in the world and has won six British titles, five Diamond League events, two individual European titles, an individual Olympic silver medal, World Championships silver and bronze individual medals and an individual Commonwealth silver medal. He has also won a number of relay titles including an Olympic bronze medal, World Championships bronze medal, two European gold medals, one European silver medal, one European bronze medal and a Commonwealth Games gold medal. Hudson-Smith also holds the European and British 4x400m records (2:55.83) along with the GB Team who ran in the final of the men's 4x400m event in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Adrian Leroy John Patrick is an English former sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres.
Alastair Chalmers is a British track and field hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. He won Guernsey's first-ever Commonwealth Games track and field medal when he took bronze at the 2022 edition and he is a five-time British 400m hurdles champion.