British Male Athletes

British middle-distance athlete and neurologist Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister was the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes. Before achieving such feat, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres during the 1952 Summer Olympics. In the medical field, Bannister became a neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford.

Sebastian Coe is a politician and former athlete who represented Great Britain in two Olympic events. He won four Olympic medals including two gold medals as a middle-distance runner. In 2012, he was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame. The same year, Coe was honored at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. 

English track and field athlete is best remembered for his gold medal win in the 100m race at the Paris Olympics in 1924. Part of the Achilles Club, he and his exploits inspired the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. Following his retirement, he became a broadcaster and sports administrator.

Linford Christie is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter who won gold medals in the 100 meters at the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships, and the Commonwealth Games. He is one of the most highly decorated British athletes of all time. He was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1993. 

Steve Cram is a British former athlete who dominated the middle-distance running event during the 1980s alongside other athletes like Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. During the summer of 1985, Cram set world records in the mile run, 2000m, and 1500m during a 19-day period. He is the first person to run 1500m under three-and-a-half minutes.

Daley Thompson is a British former athlete who specialized in decathlon. He has won gol medals in decathlon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics. He also broke the world record for decathlon on four occasions. He also won three Commonwealth titles and is regarded as the greatest decathlete ever. 

The great-grandson of English footballer Jock Rutherford, Greg Rutherford had a brief stint with Aston Villa football club before he focused on athletics. The Milton Keynes athlete won a gold at the 2012 London Olympics, while his 8.29m jump at the 2016 Rio Olympics won him a bronze medal.

Chris Hoy is a British racing driver and former track cyclist. A highly decorated Olympic cyclist, he is the recipient of six gold and one silver medals. He is also an 11-time World Champion. He announced his retirement from competitive cycling in 2013. He is also interested in motorsport and competed at the 2015 Race of Champions.

Alun Wyn Jones is a Welsh rugby union player who is currently playing for the Ospreys. Jones is the current captain of the Wales national rugby team and has helped his team win  five Six Nations Championships. He has also won other important trophies, such as three Grand Slams, four Triple Crowns, three Doddie Weir Cups, and four Prince William Cups.

Known for his signature laughter, Kriss Akabusi is a former track and field athlete who has three Olympic bronze medals to his credit. He also became a European Champion in 1990, breaking a 22-year British 400m hurdles record. He had previously also been part of the British Army.

Jimmy White is an English senior snooker player. Nicknamed The Whirlwind because of his attacking style of play, he has won three seniors world titles.  He is currently ranked tenth on the all-time list of ranking event winners. He was the first left-handed player to record a maximum break at the World Championship. 

James Cracknell is a British athlete who specializes in rowing. With six World Rowing Championships and two Olympic gold medals under his belt, Cracknell is regarded as one of the most successful English rowers of his generation. He is also known for his charitable activities; in 2008, he raised funds for the BBC's Sport Relief charity.

While he began his career as a Cambridgeshire Constabulary policeman, Geoff Capes ruled the British shot-putting arena in the 1970s. Apart from being a two-time Commonwealth gold medal winner, he has also won the World’s Strongest Man tag twice and been a seven-time AAA Championship winner.

Apart from winning a gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Steve Ovett also set six world records. He once ruled the middle-distance running scene. A talented footballer in his teens, he later chose athletics, since he wanted to pursue a sport that wouldn’t make him dependent on his teammates.

Colin Jackson is a Welsh former athlete who represented Wales and Great Britain during his career. Jackson, who specialized in hurdles, won the silver medal in the 110m hurdles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His world record for the 110m hurdles stood for more than ten years, while his world record for the 60m hurdles stood for almost 27 years.

Former Welsh rugby player Sam Warburton became the youngest to captain Wales in the 2011 World Cup. He also created a record for holding the most caps as a Wales captain. He has also won the European Challenge Cup for the Cardiff Blues and the Six Nations Championship for Wales.

With his 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medal, Louis Smith became the second Black male gymnast to have won the medal. A pommel horse expert, he later won three more Olympic medals. He had ADHD as a child and later also won a choral scholarship but chose to focus on gymnastics instead.

Winner of the 1997 World Championship and the 1998 European Cup, British sprinter Iwan Thomas is the current UK 400m record holder, having run a time of 44.36s. He has also represented United Kingdom at the 1996 Olympic Games in the 400 metres.  A popular television personality, he makes regular appearances on small screen, mostly as guest, panelist or presenter.

Ugo Monye is an English former rugby union player turned sports pundit. He was a star athlete as a youth and played for Hampshire RFC U17s and U20s. He then joined Harlequins and played 241 times for them. He won both the second division and then the Premiership title with Harlequins. He has also played for England. 

Lester Piggott is an English former jockey. Piggott has 4,493 career wins under his belt and is considered one of the greatest jockeys of all time. In 1999, Piggott was ranked second in the top 50 jockeys of the 20th century list published by the Racing Post. In 2021, Piggott was inducted into the British Champions Series Hall of Fame.

When British racing driver Max Chilton made his Formula 3 debut at 16, he became the youngest deriver to do so. He now represents the North American racing series IndyCar. While he initially wished to be a farmer, he began his racing career at age 10, racing in karts.

Dwain Chambers is a British track sprinter known to be one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics. He is the European record holder for the 60 meters with 6.42 seconds. He has won gold medals at the world and European levels in different tournaments. He faced a doping ban from 2006 to 2012. 

Northern Irish motorcycle racer Jonathan Rea began his career with motocross and then switched to circuit racing later. He made history when he became the first racer to win six WorldSBK titles, that too, back-to-back. He earned the second place in the 2017 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award race.

Nicolas Hamilton has proved himself to be an icon for the specially abled to become a popular race-car driver despite his struggle with cerebral palsy. The half-brother of F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, he has participated in major tournaments such as the Renault UK Clio Cup and currently plays for ROKiT Racing.

Mike Tindall is an English former rugby union player who represented Bath Rugby, Gloucester Rugby, and the England national rugby union team. He helped his national team win the 2003 Six Nations Championship as well as the 2003 World Cup. Tindall earned 75 caps for England and represented his country in 11 Six Nations Championships. 

Owen Farrell is an English rugby union player who captains the Saracens Football Club as well as the England national team. Having scored 1053 points so far, Farrell is counted among the top points scorers in the history of rugby union tests. Owen Farrell has helped the English team win three Six Nations Championships among other major tournaments.

Chris Ashton is an English rugby union player. He is also a former rugby league player. He plays as a wing or fullback and is one of the few players who have represented England in both rugby codes. He began playing rugby as a young boy and made his senior debut in 2005. He has won 40 caps for England. 

Matthew Pinsent is an English broadcaster and former rower. Having won four successive Olympic gold medals in rowing, Pinsent is widely regarded as one of the most successful English Olympians of his generation. He also won 10 world championships during his illustrious rowing career. In 2005, Matthew Pinsent was honored by the International Rowing Federation with the Thomas Keller Medal.

Ben Youngs is an English rugby union player who plays for the Leicester Tigers as well as the England national team. One of the most successful scrum-halfs of his generation, Youngs became the most capped scrum-half for England in 2019. In 2017 and 2020, Ben Youngs helped his team win the prestigious Six Nations Championships.

Allan Wells is a Scottish former athlete who specialized in sprinting. He represented Great Britain at the 1980 Moscow Olympics where he won a gold medal and a silver medal in the 100 meters and 200 meters events, respectively. Allan Wells also won gold medals at other important tournaments, such as the IAAF World Cup, Commonwealth Games, and European Cup.

Brian Moore is an English former rugby union footballer. He played as a hooker for Nottingham, Harlequins, and Richmond. He was abandoned by his father as a child and had a difficult childhood. He sought solace in rugby and became a formidable player. He is currently a rugby presenter and pundit for BBC Sport, Talksport, and Love Sport Radio. 

Usman Ahmed is a British former professional boxer. He was active from 2006 to 2016. Over his career, he participated in 19 major fights, out of which he won eight. In 2009, he competed for the British and Commonwealth flyweight titles. He gained notoriety when he once danced to the ring, only to be knocked unconscious by his opponent.  

Alistair Brownlee made history by becoming the only athlete with two Olympics medals in the triathlon event. His brother, Jonathan Brownlee, too, is a star athlete. Born to a runner father and a swimmer mother, he was introduced to triathlon by Simon Hearnshaw, his uncle, who was also an avid athlete.

Kevin Sinfield is a former professional rugby league player turned coach.  He played his entire professional career with Leeds and is considered one of the most successful players in Super League history. He shifted to coaching after his retirement as a player and is currently the defensive coach for the Leicester Tigers, who play in Premiership Rugby.   

Danny Care is an English rugby union player. He currently plays for Harlequins in the Premiership as a scrum-half. He began playing rugby union as a small child and made his international debut with the England Sevens team in 2006. In 2008, he made his debut for England and has since won 84 caps. 

Dylan Hartley is a former rugby union player who played for Northampton Saints for most part of his career. He was also an important member of the England national rugby union team, captaining the side from 2016 to 2018. As captain, Hartley led his side to a 3–0 series win against the Australian side in the 2016 Cook Cup.

Indian Sikh marathon runner Fauja Singh, who later moved to the U.K., made history by becoming the oldest person to complete a marathon, at age 100. His biography, Fauja Singh Keeps Going, became a bestseller. It is believed, the death of his fifth son motivated him to follow his passion.

Martin Offiah is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He was active in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s and scored over 500 tries during his rugby league career. He is counted among the greatest rugby league players of his era and was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2013.  

British track and field athlete, Lawrence Okoye played rugby for his school before taking up discuss throw. She won gold medal at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships and thereafter competed in the 2012 London Olympics in the following year. Later, he concentrated on football, participating in the NLF, before returning to discuss throwing, securing first place at 2021 European Athletics Team Championships.

Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player who won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996. He is a former world no.1. He currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made his World Championship debut in 1992 and established himself as a formidable player within a few years. He also participates in numerous marathons. 

Andy Goode is a retired rugby union player and a sports pundit. He has played professionally in England, France, and South Africa for different clubs during his extensive career.  He played over 400 games and scored over 4,000 points in a career that spanned almost two decades. He became a sports TV pundit after retiring. 

Phil Vickery is a former English rugby union player and member of the England squad. He played as a tighthead prop and was a member of England's World Cup-winning squad in 2003. After suffering from several neck injuries, he was forced to retire from rugby in 2010. In 2015, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. 

Gethin Jenkins is a Welsh former rugby union player. He is the sixth most-capped player in rugby union history with 129 international caps for Wales and five for the British & Irish Lions. He retired from his highly successful playing career in 2018 and became a coach. He has held numerous coaching positions at Cardiff Blues and Cardiff RFC. 

Rory Underwood is an English former rugby union player. He predominantly played in the wing position and spent the majority of his career with Leicester Tigers. He also played for Middlesbrough and Bedford Blues. He was previously a pilot with the Royal Air Force and has played for the RAF rugby team as well. 

English rugby player Lewis Moody began his career at the tender age of 18 with the Leicester Tigers. He ended his career with Bath Rugby. The tragic death of a teenage fan named Joss Rowley Stark inspired him to start the Lewis Moody Foundation, which spreads awareness about brain tumors.