The Autobiography of Colin Jackson (Hardcover)

As readers of sports autobiographies know to their cost, such books can be by-rote, self-congratulatory accounts of sporting successes, but this is something different. While Jackson discusses such career bests as his breaking of the World Outdoor 110 metres record in Stuttgart in the 1990s, he is also prepared to talk about the bleak moments, such as his less-than-impressive showing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics after an injury KO'd his chances. And Jackson's life has much more to it than sport: there are affecting passages here on the unexpected death of his fellow athlete Ross Baillie and his acrimonious break-up with friend and business partner Linford Christie. But it is writing about his sport that Jackson (aided by top sports journalist David Conn) really excels at: he makes it clear the nothing less than total dedication is involved in being a winner, and he is unsparing about the consequences of drugs. There is an unvarnished account, too, of the corruption Jackson has encountered in the sports business over the years. This is one of the most impressive of sports autobiographies written. --Barry Forshaw

Synopsis
One of the greatest athletes ever to come out of the United Kingdom, Colin Jackson has defied injury and the athlete's typically short career span to become a champion hurdler of previously unheard of longevity. Jackson won his fourth European 110m hurdle title in August 2002 and has ranked in the world's top ten hurdlers every year since 1986; he has recorded more fast times than any other hurdler and holds the world record for the 110 metres. In this book he speaks candidly for the first time about drugs, corruption and mis-management as well as his relationships with the greats of British athletics.