Phillips Idowu

Veteran triple jumper Phillips Idowu has long been a leading figure in British track and field and one of Team GB’s medal hopes in London. Idowu picked up a silver medal in Beijing, losing by just five centimetres to long-term rival Nelson Evora of Portugal, but has a whole host of major championship golds to his name - including the World Championship title from Berlin in 2009. He turned professional after winning the English Schools Championship in 1997 and finished an impressive sixth at his first Olympic Games in 2000. A silver at the 2002 Commonwealth Games followed, but a serious knee injury ruled him out of the entire following season and a three no-jump failure at the Athens Olympics called his ability to perform at the top level into question. 2008 proved the turning point in Idowu’s career, with a first world title at the Indoor Championships in Valencia followed by the silver in Beijing. Gold at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009, another gold at the 2010 European Championships and a silver in Daegu in 2011 - losing his title to the fifth-longest jump of all time - cemented Idowu’s place amongst the world’s elite at triple jump. Famed for his rock and roll persona, Idowu courted controversy in 2011 by allegedly withdrawing from the European Championship team via an announcement on Twitter, but was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list later in the year. One of Britain’s strongest contenders for a track and field gold medal, the 33-year-old is likely to face strong competition from Nelson Evora and exciting young Americans Christian Taylor and Will Claye amongst others.