Achilles tendon rupture
During his youth he was a talented footballer, turning down a youth training contract with Aldershot F.C. at the age of 16. He was educated at Brunel University London, where he studied Religious Studies and Sports Sciences. He finished fifth in the 1997 World Championships and narrowly missed out on medals at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. His career suffered setbacks due to a series of injuries, fracturing his pelvis whilst competing at the 1998 European Athletics Championships, suffering an abdominal injury after falling onto his pole at a meeting in Cottbus in 2004, and sustaining an Achilles tendon rupture in 2006. He retired from competition in 2008.