From Olympic Tracks To Global Impact: Colin Jackson's New Race For Change | Exclusive

Last Updated:March 17, 2026, 13:05 IST

Welsh hurdling legend Colin Jackson reflects on legacy, purpose, and his mission to unite the world through the Wings for Life World Run.

Welsh Olympian Colin Jackson, who helped Great Britain clinch a silver in the 110m hurdles event at the 1998 Seoul Games, in addition to a plethora of other titles including the World Championships, and European Championships, both indoor and outdoor, and the Commonwealth Games Gold, has set out on a journey to take his beloved sport to the masses in a manner hitherto unexplored with the Wings For Life World Run, a unique proposition in the world of running.

Jackson, a master of the race-end dip, opted to diversify his portfolio after having hung up his track spikes, as he helped coach numerous athletes in an effort to continue the supply line turning up for the Union Jack while also serving as a crucial member of the panel to bring the 2021 Games to London.

Jackson has been honoured by both the crown and the crowd as he was granted the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire title and named in pop-cultural phenoms for his services to the flag and the community.

In an ever-changing, volatile world, sport becomes a beacon of hope that people can rally around to feel a sense of connection with one another and a part of a bigger, wider social consciousness to hold on to the mental framework that has been driving the human psyche for centuries. The Wings for Life World Run, a unique proposition that, in the realms of running, offers a chance to unite and be part of the collective.

A contest that spans the globe, and one without a traditional finish line nevertheless, features all competitors beginning the start of the race simultaneously, irrespective of their geographical placement, with participants of all abilities, across qualification merits, either run, jog, walk, or use a wheelchair, move until a ‘catcher-car’, which starts after a 30-minute head start, passes one. The proceeds from the same go towards the NGO’s spinal cord research, adding further sheen to the noble pursuit.

In an exclusive to News18.com former Jackson, who now serves as the International Sports Director for the Wings for Life World Run, reflected on a multitude of topics including the event’s cause, the sense of community and Olympic lessons that help drive life forward.

You’ve transitioned from being a world champion to International Sports Director for the Wings for Life World Run 2026. How does this phase of your journey compare to your competitive years?

I think there’s lots in between. You’ve learned lots of things as a world champion, obviously, but you’ve got to learn those things as you go along because there’s no university degree that teaches you to be a world champion in any event or in sport. So you’ve got to actually learn lots of things as you go along and those contacts that you have and those acumens that you learn, you’re always hoping that you can put them into place in some way somehow.

So you’re never sure when you retire from your, daily situation to a new one. And so I if you think about it, I retired from athletics as a competitive athlete in 23rd, 2003 and then I started getting on board with Wings for Life team. Our first one was 2014. So there was a lot of learning going in between there and then came along the opportunity of being the international sports director, which for me was very exciting because now I could really sell something I loved, which was athletics in the way I’m running.

I absolutely had a passion for it but being linked with a great cause, made it really exciting for me to be able to do that. So I love the opportunity of being the International Sport Director for Wings  and telling the story of our foundation and what our run is all about and how we try to make the make it unique as we possibly can.

For those who may not fully understand the scope of your role, what does being International Sports Director actually involve behind the scenes?

I always giggle about that because I always think it’s hard to describe something when you’re doing it every single day. It’s like asking somebody about ‘what do you do with your life’? You’re like, well, I’m on my job. I get up in the morning, I boil a kettle, I make some toast. You know, it’s kind of similar to that in a sense.

Every single day there’s something that you do and that’s linked to it. And there’s every single day you’re thinking about what am I doing today that I could potentially help the cause? So, you know, when people see me and they see me potentially wearing a Wings T-shirt, they will look at it and you know, and they’ll go, ‘oh, what is that?’

So even though I’m technically off duty, I’m still going to head in the the wings for life world run, trying to encourage as many as you’re running friends as you possibly can to be part of the whole process. And they’re enjoying it. And then they’re asking you questions. And then as they’re asking you questions, you’re trying to answer that for them so they can be leaders in the fields alongside you without really telling people that they’re leaders, if that makes sense.

And so every single day there’d be something that I would do, would link with Wings for Life, where whether it’s an official in official capacity or not. But when we start working on official capacities, it’s things like this, you know, doing interviews, explaining what we do, what the process is all about, how we’re raising funds, where the money gets spent.

And then going around globally trying to explain to people that when you raise your money, for example, you will raise money in India. Sometimes people will be thinking, well, is the money not going to be spent in India? Well, the money will be spent all over the world. And if we do find a cure, people in India will absolutely feel the benefit. So it’s a global cause that we’re working for and that’s why it’s important that we get the message globally. I may spend a lot of time travelling and explaining it as well. So yeah, it’s a real eclectic mix of roles that I have as international sport director.

The Wings for Life World Run is not a conventional race. From a sporting perspective, what makes its global, simultaneous format so unique?

I think one of the most important things is that people understand familiarity. Everybody’s comfortable in running. I think that’s your first bit. So when people know something roughly in their head, they know what they’ve got to do and then you to make it interesting, you’ve got to bring something that’s slightly different to that.

It’s like making a cake, you know, not all have the basics for a cake, but everybody adds a little bit of flavor to change it. So it makes him more interested. And that’s exactly the same thing we’ve done with Wings of Life World Run.

Introducing the catcher car that starts 30 minutes after the runners when the catcher car snaps you at the end of your race. So we don’t have an official finished in line in that sense.

These are the kind of quirky things that we want to integrate in our event that makes it slightly different. Make it an app experience so you can hear stories whilst you’re going long running. And having a playlist that’s going on, finding out what’s happening all over the world and absolutely having an event that starts exactly the same time across the whole planet again is something that’s really, really exciting for us. And that allows us to, to grow. I mean, we still have ambitions to make a million people all running at exactly the same time for this great cause.

What are daily habits that runners should follow to compete better and run longer at the Wings for Life World Run? Is it more about physical preparation or mental consistency? And For amateur participants especially, what’s the biggest misconception about endurance running?

Well, first of all, I’d say to them, don’t think that they’re an Olympic champion at long distance running. That’s the first thing, you know your level. That’s always going to be important and that will allow you to enjoy it. You know set yourself goals that are too ambitious. Again, that’s really important because then you’ll just feel slightly disappointed when you don’t achieve it because it would be very hard work.

It’s the sense of getting out there, having that opportunity to have a go out and enjoy the whole concept of running. It’s about preparing well, make sure you’re well hydrated, make sure you’ve gone out for a little bit of running beforehand. So, you get an idea and a sense of it but just go on test yourself. You’re always going to be better than you think you absolutely are but also have that sense of you’re not an Olympic champion at long distance or even just running. So having that sense of realism as well. And I think that will allow you to go out there and enjoy the whole process.

And try and run with people you know. If you run with people who are also at your level, you enjoy it more because running is very sociable. There’s no doubt about it. I mean, that’s the success of mass participation events. People love sharing our experience. So get out there, be social in your running and run with people who are like you.

Could you shed light on the spinal cord injury recovery research supported by Wings for Life? And how significant is that work in the broader world of athletics?

For us, it’s really important that we put the money to something. And the reason why for me, I got involved is because I realised that everyday people could suffer from spinal cord at a moment. It’s not a disease where you get it. This is something that happens in an accident and it happens at a moment. And when that moment happens, it doesn’t just change a person with a spinal cord injury, it changes everybody around them as well.

And so with the with that in mind, I realized the importance that we need to let people be aware of it, and then, make sure people understand what we’re trying to achieve. So when you go into the labs and you see where the money is spent and, you see how smart these people are that are trying to make a difference, it’s just incredible.

The work isn’t easy because they’re trying to reverse evolution. You know, when you cut your spinal cord, of course you format scar tissue and this is tissue that they’re trying to, to kind of quell, but only quell that scar tissue in the spinal cord and not all over your body. They’re doing such a stellar job in trying to do that. But you know, in the meantime, there are ways that they bypass those scarring with electrical impulses, etcetera, etcetera. And this work seems to work really well as well, which is exciting.

So for me, there are so many different projects that we find that are so good and those stages you feel ‘wow, we’re going to make a real breakthrough’ makes it’s exciting when you’re part of it. As I said to people who are trained join us on May the 10th and what they’re joining is a real movement that is going to make a difference. And every euro that we raise is going towards that. So I just love that fact that we’re part of it.

How important is it today for global sporting events to carry a deeper social or scientific purpose?

Yeah, I think nowadays money’s tight and, and whenever there’s money that’s tight, you’ve got to really realize why you’re contributing to something. And if you don’t really buy into a project in that sense, and it’s going to be difficult for you to really, you know, buy into it fully because we want you to go out there.

We want to have a great time but also realize where your money is being spent. So we’re very much out there saying, ‘look, this is where we are. You can see exactly where our money is spent and where we’re at.’ And I think that’s something that’s really positive that people buy into a little bit more knowing that, right, this is where we’re at and I can see where my every single euro is spent and that’s got to be important. So it’s that combination of having a good time for a good reason.

When young athletes meet you today, what part of your journey resonates with them most?

I coach 18,19 year old athletes and I just remind them that it, it’s got to be fun. They’ve got to enjoy what they’re doing. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, then what’s the point of doing it? Especially after we’ve done a hard session, I always ask them, Are you sure you still enjoy this sport? Is this what you want to do? And each and every time they never let me down. They always say absolutely, they love it. And so that’s got to be the, the fundamental driving factor, enjoyment. Lovely, lovely.

Without getting technical, what excites you about the current generation of hurdlers?

I’d say the thing that really excites me about that, there is a good group of them and I love the fact that when they go on the start line, you cannot really be sure who is going to win. And I love that fact because they’re all that good. You could watch the 60 meter hurdles, men and women, and I’m telling you, each race you get a different winner if you ran it three times.

And I’d love that fact that the athletes themselves know that too. And that’s what kind of makes them a little bit more anxious. But they also enjoy the feel that ‘today could be my day!’ because it could very well be. And, and I thoroughly enjoy that as an athletics fan, and certainly as a hurdler and a hurdle coach.

Looking back at your career, is there a race you lost that taught you more than any medal ever did? And despite your world titles and world record, an Olympic gold medal remained elusive. With time and distance, how do you view that chapter of your career today?

I think that’s really important because in terms of your career, you’ve got to look at it as a whole and not just as individual events and people.

I’m going to touch on another version of that. What you just said really in your question, which was like people say to me, which event means the most to you? And I was like, well, they all mean exactly the same to me because every single year I set a goal and my goal and my objective is to win the title of the of the year. So as long as I won the title of the year, then I was successful.

I can’t look in the Olympic Games in four year time when there’s the World Championships, Commonwealth Games or European Championships event prior. You only keep your eye on the prize that is up and coming. And that’s always important to me. And so the opportunities of the Olympics, yeah, they’re great.

I went to 4 Olympic Games, I was very excited about and honored to win as a silver medal in one and to miss out on the others is a bit frustrating. But I learned my lessons in those and all the lessons that I learned, especially not to be complacent. Even when you’re world number one, you cannot be complacent. That is one of the driving factors that take me through life today. So even with what happened  at the Olympic Games, I’ve really learned from it and I apply that today. So I’m really blessed that I I’m able to do that. Your loss do teach you far more than victories.

If you could give one piece of advice to the young Colin Jackson standing at the start of his career, what would it be?

I’ll tell him don’t worry. That’s the first thing. ‘Don’t worry. Things would be OK’. Because when you’re young you worry about everything. You worry whether you’re training OK, you’re worrying whether your kit is going to arrive on time, you’re worrying about your opponents. I would just say just stop worrying and just embrace the whole process of what you’re doing and just create good memories that will stay with you. Stop worrying. That would be it.

News sports other-sports From Olympic Tracks To Global Impact: Colin Jackson's New Race For Change | Exclusive

Read More