Jon Ridgeon

Ridgeon was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.^[1] He won the 110 m hurdles at the European Junior Championship in 1985, ahead of his fellow British athlete Colin Jackson, who finished runner-up. Ridgeon then finished second to Jackson at the 1986 World Junior Championships. He represented England in the 110 metres hurdles event, at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.^[2][3][4]

Ridgeon was an All-American for the SMU Mustangs track and field team, finishing 6th in the 110 m hurdles at the 1986 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.^[5]

Ridgeon won the 110 m hurdles gold medal at the 1987 Universiade (World University Games) in Zagreb. Ridgeon became the British 110 metres hurdles metres champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1987 AAA Championships.^[6][7]

At the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Ridgeon won a silver medal in the 110 m hurdles (with Jackson taking the bronze medal). Ridgeon then finished in fifth place at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul (where Jackson came second). However Ridgeon and Jackson's rivalry was comparatively short-lived, as Ridgeon began to develop injuries that led to him missing out on most major events in the following years.

When Ridgeon returned to regular competition, he switched to the 400 metres hurdles, before his retiring from the sport.

Ridgeon was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1998 he became a founding and managing partner of Fast Track, a sports marketing agency (the agency was sold in 2007^[8]). As well as working with Fast Track, Ridgeon has also been a TV commentator for the BBC and BSkyB since retiring as an athlete.

In 2018, Ridgeon was appointed chief executive officer of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).^[9][10]

• 110m H - 13.29 (Zagreb, Croatia, 15 Jul 1987)
• 400m H - 48.73 (Rieti, Italy, 6 Sep 1992)