THURROCK'S former javelin world champion Fatima Whitbread, who began her sporting career with Thurrock Harriers, has been honoured with the Helen Rollason Award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023.

The award recognises outstanding achievement in the face of adversity and honours the sporting and personal legacy of Fatima, now 62, who spent the first 14 years of her life in children's homes after being abandoned as a baby.

As a child she suffered physical and sexual abuse, as well as the heartache of being a child who was not wanted by her parents.

She described her 14 years as a child in care as "an awful long time to be institutionalised".

"For me, it was a sea of emotion and constant feeling of abandonment, attachment issues, emotional trauma, she recalls.

"I didn't know if I had a mummy or daddy, or anyone that came and visited us at special times of birthdays or Christmas. No messages, no cards."

Moments of happiness were rare in Fatima's young childhood.

A turning point came in the youngster's life, several years after being moved to a local children's home, when she visited Harriers' stadium at Blackshots. There she picked up a javelin for the first time and won the heart of local woman Maggie Whitbread who became not just her sporting mentor, but the mum she never had.

Maggie, now 84 but still active in Tborough social circles, is a former Great Britain thrower who competed at the Commonwealth Games. She taught 13-year-old Fatima all she needed to know about the sport.

"I could see she was a very neglected young girl," Maggie tells BBC Sport. Later learning she was in a home, Maggie provided her with boots and a javelin to call her own.

Over time, Maggie would introduce Fatima to her husband, John, and sons Gregg and Kirk. She slotted into their life like she belonged there - the natural big sister to the boys."She completed the family unit," recalls Maggie.

Fatima was ultimately fostered by the Whitbread family. She would later change her surname from Vedad - that of her biological mother - to Whitbread by deed poll to mark her new life.

At 14, she finally had a family, and a future.

"Mum and I, as mum and daughter, coach and athlete, ended up conquering the world," she recalls.

Fatima won the 1977 English Schools' Athletics Championships intermediate title, and was selected for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, where she finished sixth.

From sports star to TV celebrity: Fatima Whitbread. Inset: With mum Maggie at the LA Olympics where she won bronze.

The following year, she took gold at the 1979 European Athletics Junior Championships.

As a senior athlete she went on to break the world record with a throw of 77.44m in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, and became the first British athlete to set a world record in a throwing event. The throw won her the European title and she took the gold medal at the 1987 World Championships.

She is also a two-time Olympic medallist, winning bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics and silver at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

She was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1987. This evening's award saw her return to the sporting sportlight once more for another major award.

Fatima's later career was affected by a long-term shoulder injury. The 1990 UK Athletics Championships was the last event in which she participated, sustaining a further shoulder injury there. In 1992 she formally retired from competition.

She has appeared on several television programmes, including I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! in 2011 and an all star edition earlier this year, in which she finished in third place both times. She was named the Sports Writers' Association Sportswoman of the Year in 1986 and 1987. In the 1987 Birthday Honours, Fatima was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to athletics.

After retirement, she remained in athletics - working in marketing as well as coaching all over the world.

Her personal life as an adult was not without trauma. In 1997 she married GB athletics chief Norman. The couple, who had a son together, divorced in 2006. Norman died of a heart attack in 2007.

Fatima's new found fame as a TV celebrity helped offset her financial problems as she became known to new generations.

Following his death Whitbread faced huge financial challenges, which were ultimately eased by her new-found celebrity TV status.

Whitbread has published two autobiographies written with Adrianne Blue, Fatima: The Autobiography of Fatima Whitbread in 1988, and Survivor: The Shocking and Inspiring Story of a True Champion in 2012.

Now she pours her energy into using her platform to help others, advocating for and creating awareness of children in the care system in order to give them "a voice so they can be seen, heard and valued".

She campaigns to improve the care system and ensure children in care are "seen, heard and valued".

 Speaking after receiving the award this evening she said: "I remember Helen ringing me and asking for me to be her first international athlete to be interviewed. I had just won the world championships in 1987.

"Now she has given me the opportunity to stand on this stage and speak out loud for our children. I stand here, and I'm privileged and proud to receive this award, and I represent the care system sector and celebrate our young children, the remarkable resilience they show."

You can read about Fatima's support for Action for Children via this link.

The Helen Rollason Award was introduced to Sports Personality of the Year in 1999 in memory of the BBC Sport journalist and presenter, who died of cancer that year at the age of 43.

Rugby league legend Rob Burrow - who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019 - won the Helen Rollason Award in 2022. Other previous winners include Scotland rugby union great Doddie Weir, Hillsborough disaster campaigner Anne Williams, football fan Bradley Lowery and racing driver Billy Monger.

Read more about Fatima Whitbread on the BBC website:-

Fatima Whitbread wins Helen Rollason Award

Fatima Whitbread: The abandoned baby who became javelin world champion