OUT OF THE SHADOW
TONY JARRETT, GREATLY UNDERRATED DURING HIS CAREER, TELLS EMILY MOSS HOW HE HAS MOVED ON WITH HIS LIFE
Tony Jarrett: despite once being fourth quickest ever, was he usually outshone by fellow Brit Colin Jackson
PICTURES: MARK SHEARMAN
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
TONY JARRETT retired from athletics in 2003 when he pulled a cruciate ligament in his knee. However, the man who still sits second on the UK all-time 110m hurdles list courtesy of his 13.00 clocking, set when placing runner-up to Colin Jackson in the IAAF World Championships in 1993, wasted no time in finding something else to do, as he quickly began working as a learning mentor in a school, a role he still does today, alongside public speaking and coaching.
“I have been working as a learning mentor at Kingsford Community School in Beckton for 13 years now,” says Jarrett. “I had been helping the PE staff out and I was very fortunate that they gave me the opportunity to go into the classroom. I really like the one-on-one approach that my role entails. I work with the behavioural kids and I see my job as trying to make them understand that education is important. Not every kid is academic, but I want them to see that they can leave school with something. It is very much about getting them to get the best out of themselves.”