‘I’m gay’: Jackson clears emotional hurdle
FORMER Olympian Colin Jackson has come out as gay in an interview with Swedish television.
The two-time 110m world champion hurdler and former world record holder revealed his sexuality in the interview with SVT series Rainbow Heroes having previously denied rumours.
The 50-year-old, now a BBC pundit, said he had not spoken about his sexuality in public before because he feared the story would be “sensationalised”. He chose the series, he added, because of the way they had asked questions.
In an interview with high-jumper Kajsa Bergqvist and long-jumper Peter Häggström, he said: “The way you asked me, it was a whole storytelling thing and you were just interested in the way it affected me sports-wise, emotionally-wise and my preparation.”
He also revealed the moment he told his parents after a “kiss-and-tell story” was sold to the tabloid press.
“I was waiting for them in the kitchen. They walked in and they sat down. My mother could see my face and I was quite distraught,” he said. “It didn’t faze them at all. My mum went: ‘First of all, is the story true?’ And I said: ‘It’s true, so it’s not like I can deny it.’ And then she went: ‘Well, why are people so disgraceful?’ I just realised, I’ve got the best parents.”
Jackson, who was awarded an MBE, OBE and CBE for his services to athletics, told The Voice in 2008 that there was no longer a stigma against gay athletes: “It’s the 21st century. I don’t think anybody thinks about that any more. There might have been a stigma in years gone by.”