11th April 2018

UK Athletics Statement: Bob Matthews MBE

11 April 2018

UK Athletics is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Bob Matthews MBE and sends its sincere condolences to his family and friends.

During an impressive career in sport, Bob won 13 Paralympic medals, including eight golds, across six Paralympic Games, the first of which was in 1984 and became the first paralympic athlete to be awarded an MBE in 1987.

He won medals in VI athletics at distances ranging from 800m to the marathon. Matthews won three gold medals on the track on his Games debut in 1984 and successfully defended those titles in the 800m B1, the 1500m B1 and the 5000m B1 at the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games.

It was at the Sydney Games of 2000 that he added the T11 marathon to his events, where he won silver, in addition to the gold that he won in the 10,000m and the silver in the T11 5000m. He made his last Games appearances at Athens 2004.

Bob will be fondly remembered across UK Athletics for his contributions to Paralympic sport.