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| 6TH DAN FOR ROCHDALE SPORTING HERO |
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| 05 Nov 2008 |
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| Simon Jackson MBE was honoured by the British Judo Association with the award of his 6th Dan in recognition of his outstanding achievements within the sport of Judo. |
| Jackson began judo at the age of seven, starting at Rochdale Judo Club under the current coaches Warren Schofield, 6th Dan and Dave Duffy, 5th Dan. He quickly found that, despite being visually impaired, judo was a sport that enabled him to compete on an equal level. As a junior judoka, he went on to win various titles within fully sighted judo competitions and twice captained the North West Area junior team. At the age of 15, he was spotted by the then VI GB Coach, Eileen Cartman, 1st Dan, and was subsequently selected to compete in the European VI Championships in Paris, where he won the 1st of 15 European Gold Medal Titles. |
A year later, in 1988, Jackson travelled to Seoul, Korea, to compete in his 1st Paralympics. In an amazing show of maturity, the 16 year old Jackson rocked the judo world and won Team GBs 1st, and to date only, British Men’s Paralympics’ or Olympic Gold Medal. Throughout his illustrious career, he defended his title in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.
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| On his return from Atlanta, Jackson was awarded the MBE for his services to judo. He also won a Paralympics bronze in Sydney 2000 and 3 World Titles. |
| In the 2005 world championships in France, Jackson was fighting in the semi finals when he received a serious back injury which effectively signalled the end of his competitive career. And so In 2008, Jackson announced to the British Judo Association that he was officially retiring from the competitive side of the sport, but that he would still take an active part in a coaching and motivational capacity. |
| On Sat 01 Nov 2008, Jackson was awarded his 6th Dan and presented with the ceremonial Red and White belt, becoming Rochdale's second and youngest holder of such an honour. |
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