Paul Dickenson

Paul Dickenson

Personal information
Nationality	English
Born	(1949-12-04)4 December 1949 North Shields, Northumberland, England
Died	26 November 2024(2024-11-26) (aged 74)

Derek Paul Dickenson (4 December 1949 – 26 November 2024) was an English hammer thrower.

Athletics career

Dickenson represented the United Kingdom at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1976 (Montreal). His best Olympic result was finishing in 14th place at the 1976 Summer Olympics, throwing 68.52 metres. He represented England in the hammer throw event, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Four years later he represented England in the hammer throw, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Personal life and death

A former schoolteacher, Dickenson worked in local government and the private sector before starting with BBC television. He commentated on every Olympic Games Winter and Summer from 1992. Best known for his commentary work on athletics he also worked on basketball, volleyball, weightlifting, canoe slalom, yachting, bobsleigh, skeleton, luge, cross country skiing, speed skating and ski jumping. He was also the lead commentator, and occasional presenter, of the BBC's coverage of the World's Strongest Man events for over a decade.

Dickenson died at home on 26 November 2024, at the age of 74.

Personal bests

Distance	Mark	Date
Hammer throw	73.20 m	1976
Discus throw	50.78 m	1980

References

• sports-reference
• BBC Reference
• Master of the University honoris causa
• Sporting Heroes & Photo
• Gameshow commentary
• Paul Dickenson at Power of 10