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Who is Richard Whitehead?

RICHARD Whitehead is a Paralympic hero with many medals under his belt.

However, the athlete is now taking on his next challenge on Celebrity Hunted 2022.

Richard Whitehead is a Paralympic hero and TV star
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Richard Whitehead is a Paralympic hero and TV starCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Who is Richard Whitehead?

Richard was born in Nottinghamshire on July 19, 1976, which makes him 45 years old.

He is a double amputee as he was born without lower legs.

Before competing in track sport, he was a swim and dance teacher and in 2006 he was part of the ice hockey team for Great Britain in the Turin Winter Paralympic Games.

Richard holds the record for the fastest half marathon for double amputees.

He lives with his partner Val and they have two children - a son Andrew and daughter Zarah.

The family have a home in Nottingham, so Richard can train at Loughborough University.

What Paralympic medals has Richard Whitehead won?

Richard was unable to compete in the marathon at London 2012 as there was no category for leg amputees.

He was refused permission by the IPC to compete against upper-body amputees and so had to turn to sprinting to compete at the 2012 Paralympics.

It was this tournament where he won the gold medal in the T42 200m event with a world record time of 24.38 seconds.

At the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games he raced to gold again in the 200m and bagged a silver in the T42 100m.

At the delayed 2020 Toyko Paralympic Games Richard won silver in the T61 200m.

In 2013 he was awarded an MBE for his services to athletics,.

He also ran 40 marathons in 40 days across the UK as he ran from John O'Groats to Land's End in 2013.

When is Richard Whitehead on Celebrity Hunted?

You can catch Richard on the newest series of Celebrity Hunted on Sunday, January 30, 2022, at 9pm on Channel 4.

The show will then run weekly for the duration of six episodes as we follow the celebs on the run.

It will also be available to watch online through All 4.

Richard teams up with his friend, and Olympic runner, Iwan Thomas.

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