Daley Thompson - Public Persona

Public Persona

Thompson was a natural showman who endeared himself to the British public with his irreverent personality, notably when he whistled the British national anthem God Save the Queen with studied insouciance after receiving his gold medal in 1984. Afterwards, he famously sent a message to friends back home via a TV interview, showing his medal and saying "I've got the Big G, boys - the Big G!"

Sometimes Thompson's behaviour caused offence, not least when he refused to carry the English flag at the opening ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, claiming that the effort required participating in the four-and-a-half hour ceremony would reduce his chances of winning his event. He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award the same year. Making his acceptance speech during the live broadcast of the programme Thompson uttered an obscenity, which caused media comment. Despite this, he was awarded the MBE in 1982, the OBE in 1986, and the CBE in 2000. In 2012 he was accused of Anti-Irish racism after commenting on live BBC TV that the creator of a mis-spelled tattoo "must have been Irish". The tattoo artist was actually American.

Since 2004 Thompson has been involved in running his own Boot Camp company along with Kate Staples (Zodiac from Gladiators) and Nick Buckfield (Olympic Pole Vaulter). The company is based in Esher and has camps around the country. Thompson is also leading the company into running Athletics Academies in schools.