Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | Jamaican and British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Jamaica | 7 March 1959|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Freestyle wrestling Judo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Manchester YMCA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Fitzloyd 'Fitz' Dean Walker (born 7 March 1959) is a Jamaican-British retired wrestler and judoka, who represented Great Britain and England. In freestyle wrestling, he won medals at the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Championship, [4] [5] along with a record-setting fourteen British championships. [2] [6] In judo, he was a gold and bronze medallist at the British Judo Championships. [3]
It was previously thought that Walker was the first black wrestler to represent Great Britain at the Olympics before the discovery of Louis Bruce, Britain's first black Olympian. [6] [7] [8]
Walker began training in wrestling at the YMCA in 1973 at his judo instructor's suggestion. [9]
For international competition, Walker represented Jamaica at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. [7] Walker represented Great Britain at the 1980 Summer Olympics, the 1984 Summer Olympics, and the 1988 Summer Olympics. [6] [7] [10] He represented England in the 74kg weight class and finished in sixth place at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. [11] He represented England and won a bronze medal in the 74kg division at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. [12] [13] In 1991, Walker took silver in the 74kg weight class at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship. [4]
Walker is a fourteen-time British champion. He won the lightweight (69 kg/152 lb) division at the 1979 British Senior Championships before becoming the welterweight (76 kg/168 lb) champion for thirteen years in a row from 1980 to 1992. [2] This achievement was acknowledged in The Guinness Book of Records. [9] [6]
Walker placed third in the -71 kg division at the 1980 British Judo Championships. He became a champion at the British Judo Championships in 1982, winning the -71 kg division. [3]