Sports & Olympic Champions of the North-West

Stephen Parry

Olympic Swimming Champion

(Born 1977)
Prestwich-based Stephen Parry was actually born in Liverpool but currently lives in north Manchester, and shares a house in the district with fellow swimmer, Adrian Turner.
In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Parry won a Bronze Medal, coming third in the 200 metres Men's Butterfly event, and also became the first British swimmer to win an Olympic medal since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Much to his delight, he received the award from the Princess Royal, Princess Anne.
He was ranked only sixth when he arrived in Athens and only just qualified - in 16th place. He is a member of Stockport Swimming Club, and does most of his training there. His Olympic performance also set a new Commonwealth record. We look forward to his career with great anticipation.
In the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics Parry won Britain's first Olympic swimming medal in eight years in 200 metres butterfly, having been beaten into 4th place at Sydney four years earlier. Parry retired from competitive swimming in 2005. Subsequently he joined up with former training partner Adrian Turner to create Total Swimming, a swimming programme for training young people. He briefly hosted his own Sunday afternoon programme on BBC Radio Merseyside before joining BBC Sport as part of their team covering the swimming at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Amir Khan

WBA & IBF World Boxing Champion

(b. 1986)
The former Bolton Smithills School pupil, Amir Iqbal Khan, who began fighting out of the Bury Amateur Club, came to public attention at the Athens Olympics in 2004, while he was still a student in Bolton.
Great Britain's sole boxing representative, he had devised an intensive training plan and was in tiptop shape when the lightweight preliminaries kicked off.
In June 2004, at the age of 17, he had already won the world junior lightweight crown in South Korea after five fights in seven days. His Olympic qualification tournament in Bulgaria in April followed his Gold Medal at the European Championships in Lithuania. Khan won the best boxer award at all three events and was compared to his idol, Olympic legend Muhammad Ali.
Khan remained quietly modest about his prospects and achievements, but his father, Shajaad, a local Bolton scrap dealer, admitted to shedding a proud tear as Amir became the youngest Briton ever to win an Olympic boxing medal.
In the 2004 Olympic Final match in August he won the Silver medal in the lightweight division losing to the reigning Olympic Champion, Cuban Mario Kindelan. He has subsequently turned professional and his boxing career seems for the time being to be in its ascendancy as he has systematically snatched up almost every award on the way. Khan currently works as an ambassador for The National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and has donated over £1,000,000 of his own money into funding the Gloves Community Centre & Boxing Gym in Bolton. This world light welterweight champion is now hailed as one of Britain's most influential muslims and was one of the youngest British world champions ever, winning the WBA light welterweight title at age 22.
Turning professional in 2008, he quickly went on to become WBA World Champion in 2009. In December 2011 in a controversial bout he lost both his WBA and IBF titles to Lamont Peterson with a split decision victory, which followed an appeal by Khan and requests for a rematch - watch this space!

Carl Fogarty

World Superbike Champion

(b. 1966)
Born in Blackburn on 1st July 1966, Carl Fogarty made his debut motorcycle race at Aintree in 1983 in the Formula 500 class - he finished 2nd and was subsequently disqualified.
He would soon be recognised as one of the world's greatest motorbike riders and arguably the best ever from Britain and remained a major box office attraction of the World Superbike championship throughout the 1980s and 90s - a championship that he has won a record four times, among many other world crowns and honours.
A devoted family man, Carl has retained his roots in the Lancashire town of Blackburn, where he still lives with wife Michaela and his two daughters.
'Foggy', his newly published autobiography, charts his life from shy, awkward teenager to self-assured celebrity, detailing the dangers of his sport, personal tragedies, the hell raising years and the big money deals that have made him a multimillionaire. Amongst a string of championships honours were included:

• TT Formula One Championship - 1988, 1989
• World Endurance Champion - 1992
• World Superbike Champion - 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999

In 2000 Carl retired from World Superbike Racing following an accident in Australia and in 2002-2003 he became team owner of Foggy Petronas Racing.

Jason Queally

British Cycling Team & Olympic Champion

(b. 1970)
Born in Great Heywood, Staffordshire on the 11th May 1970, Jason Queally has become one of the best-known British Cycling Champions of the modern age. He had initially graduated in Biological Science from Lancaster University, where he represented British Universities at water polo.
A current resident of Chorley, Lancashire, Queally first came to wider public attention at the Sydney Olympics, where he continued the path set by former champion, Chris Boardman, to become probably the most recognised and celebrated cyclist in the country. He was also a key member of the Olympic Sprint team, and has one Olympic and two world silver medals at the discipline.
At the age of 25 he took to cycling seriously after completing a course at the Manchester Velodrome. Here he joined Manchester Track League, and in 1996 he decided to ride full-time. He immediately went on to win the silver medal in the 1 kilometre time trial at the National Track Championships. In 1998 he won the Silver medal in the 1km time trial at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
In 2000 he won Britain's first gold medal of the Sydney Olympics in the 1km time trial.
Jason was also key member of the England squad at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where he won Silver Medals at 1Km and in the Team Sprint. He missed the 2002 World Championships following a viral infection, but, in 2003 and by now back on top form, he recorded some impressive 1Km race times on the way to seventh in the world championships and a silver at the Olympic trials.
In 2004, as part of the Great Britain Team Sprint Trio Team he won a Bronze Medal in the World Championships.

Bill Beaumont OBE

Lancashire & England Rugby Union Team Captain

(b. 1952)
Born William Blackledge in Preston on Sunday 9th March 1952, Bill Beaumont became one of England's best-known rugby union players. He first played in the Fylde first team, where he became a leading light, and played for the County Team from 1972, when Lancashire won the county championships. Beaumont was at that time, England's most capped lock forward (with 34 caps - 21 as captain) and longest serving captain.
He was awarded an OBE in the 1982 New Year's Honours. He played for England from 1975 until injury forced him to retire, aged 29, in 1982.
For many years he was coach for the Fylde team and was the longest serving contestant on BBC Television's "A Question of Sport". Bill Beaumont now runs his own textiles business and represents England on the International Rugby Board. He was British & Irish Lions Tour Manager for 2005.

Sir Tom Finney OBE, CBE

Preston North End FC & England Footballer

(b. 1922)
Tom Finney was born in Preston in April 1922, near Deepdale football ground where he was to emerge as the town's leading and possibly most celebrated ever football player.
He became a professional football player at Preston in the dark days of 1940, and his whole career thereafter was to be dedicated to Preston North End Football Club.
Tom made his debut for Preston in August 1946 at the age of 24 and by this time was already a well known player having made his name in wartime soccer competitions including the cup final of 1941 against Arsenal.
His entire club career would be spent solely at Preston where he played in 433 games, having scored 187 goals.
From the outset, Finney demonstrated outstanding skills as a centre forward and as a winger during the 1940s and 50s. Intensely private and modest on and off the pitch, he always played with exemplary good manners, and in the fourteen seasons that he played for Preston North End, never once received a booking.
He was the first player to be named Footballer of the Year twice - in 1954 and 1957.
Finney made 76 appearances as an international for England, scoring 30 goals during that time, before injuries forced him to retire from playing at the age of 38. He made his last professional appearance in 1960. In 1961 he was awarded the OBE, followed by the CBE in 1992 and a knighthood in 1998.
Sir Tom has maintained an active involvement with Preston North End FC to this day and is now president of the club, and in honour to his loyalty and skill, the stadium bears his name.