Darren Campbell

Early career

Raised on the Racecourse Estate in Sale, Cheshire Campbell was a talented athlete and footballer in his youth. His first national success in athletics was a gold medal at the English Schools Championships in the 200 m. Campbell then won the 100 m and 200 m gold medals at the 1991 European Junior Championships held in Thessaloniki, Greece, as well as a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m. A year later, he won silver medals at the 1992 World Junior Championships, in the sprint double, and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. He was beaten both times by Ato Boldon, who became the first athlete to win a double at the championships. His senior international debut came at the Stuttgart World Championships in 1993, as part of the 4 × 100 m squad. However, as a result of injuries, he left athletics at the age of 21 to launch a career in football with trials for Cwmbran Town, Plymouth Argyle, Yorkley, Weymouth, UWIC Inter Cardiff and Newport County amongst others.

Return to athletics

Campbell returned to athletics in 1995, and ran the 100 m in 10.34sec that year. The following year, he improved his 100 m time to 10.17sec, and represented Britain in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA. Campbell only represented Britain in the 4 × 100 m relay, but the baton was dropped as it was passed on to him. At the 1997 World Championships, Campbell won his first major senior medal – a bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay, and by this time was a regular feature in the British…

Campbell was a childhood friend of English comedy personality Karl Pilkington, as described in The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts. In a podcast episode, Pilkington claimed to have been responsible for much of Campbell's early training, which mainly involved allowing him to push a go-kart that Pilkington sat in. Campbell later thanked Pilkington in a tweet. Campbell guest presented children's TV gameshow Best of Friends in the 'sports special' with Iwan Thomas in 2008. He was a participant in round one of Celebrity MasterChef 2011. Campbell is also a dog breeder, breeding Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Border Collies, Rottweilers and other breeds.