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Sam Ruddock

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Sam Ruddock
Ruddock with a coach during the F35 shot put final at the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships.
Personal information
Full nameSamuel Ruddock
NicknameSam
NationalityBritish
Born (1990-02-18) 18 February 1990 (age 35)
Rugby, Warwickshire
EducationInternational Relations (Bachelor of Arts)
Alma materLoughborough University
Sport
Country United Kingdom
SportCycling
DisabilityCerebral palsy
Disability classC1
EventTrack time trial
ClubLoughborough Students CC
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finalsRio 2016 London 2012
World finals2015 IPC Athletics World Championships 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships
Regional finals2016 IPC Athletics European Championships 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships
Highest world rankingUCI World Rankings C1 – 4th (2020–2021)
Personal best1:16.671 (Kilometre TT)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  United Kingdom
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Grosseto Shot put – F35
Track World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines 1 km time trial C1
Gold medal – first place 2023 Glasgow 1 km time trial C1
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Glasgow Omnium C1

Samuel Ruddock (born 18 February 1990)[1] is a Paralympic athlete who represented Great Britain in the T35 classification in 2012 in the 100 metres and in the F35 classification in 2016 in the shot put. He subsequently turned to track cycling, in which he won gold medals in the C1 classification at the 2022 and 2023 UCI World Championships.

Early life and education

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Ruddock is from Rugby, Warwickshire.[1][2] He was diagnosed in infancy with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that limits the coordination of his lower body.[3][4]

He was educated at Bishop Wulstan School and Rugby School,[5] where he took A-levels in English, History and Economics on a scholarship.[6] In school he played basketball, then rugby. He earned a bachelor's degree in International Relations at Loughborough University, where he played American football. In December 2011, athletics coach Joe McDonnell scouted him as a sprinter during an NFL-combine session, and he started full-time training in March 2012.[2][3][7]

Competitive career

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Ruddock ran his first official races in April 2012 and was classified as a T35 by the International Paralympic Committee the following month.[3] At the IPC Croatian Open, he won gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m and was ranked eighth in the world. After competing in both distances at the McCain Birmingham Games in July 2012, he was selected for the Great Britain team at the September 2012 Paralympics in London.[2][3][7]

After the 2012 Paralympics, Ruddock transferred to the shot put. In the F35 class, he finished fifth at the 2014 IPC European Championships in Swansea and fifth at the 2015 IPC World Championships in Doha. In 2016, he won silver at the 2016 IPC European Championships in Grosseto.[1] He was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, finishing sixth.[1][8][9] At the 2017 IPC World Championships in London, he placed seventh.[1]

Ruddock transferred to track cycling in 2018, with a classification of C1. He represented Great Britain at the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn[1] and the 2020 UCI World Championships in Milton, Ontario, where he placed fourth in the 1 km time trial.[5] At the 2022 UCI World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, he won the 1 km time trial;[10][11][12] he placed first again at the 2023 UCI World Championships in Glasgow,[1][13] where he also won bronze in Omnium.[1][14] In 2023 he also competed for Great Britain in the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup [de] in Huntsville, Alabama.[4]

Personal life

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Ruddock has been an ambassador for Cerebral Palsy Sport and has worked with youth as an athlete mentor for the Youth Sport Trust[11] and through Sky Sports Living for Sport[9] and as an ambassador for Inspire+.[15] He also works with the Kadeena Cox Academy, a black cyclists' initiative.[15]

In April 2025, he was reported missing in Las Vegas after travelling to the United States to see a WrestleMania event.[16][17] Police confirmed four days later that he had been located.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Sam Ruddock, Paralympics GB, retrieved 27 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Loughborough University sprinter celebrates shock Paralympic call-up", Loughborough University, 10 July 2012, archived from the original on 19 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Sam Ruddock, DKH Legacy Trust, 2013, archived from the original on 21 April 2014.
  4. ^ a b Elizabeth Hudson, "Para-cycling Road World Cup: Sam Ruddock on the challenges of road riding with balance issues", BBC Sport, 24 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b Zoe Ashton, "Cycling: Paralympian Sam Ruddock fourth in world cycling championships", Warwickshire World, 5 February 2020.
  6. ^ Anoop Bhuller, "Get To Know Six Talented Bursary Students", Country & Town House, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Game Changers talks to Paralympics sprinter Sam Ruddock", Sky Sports, 28 January 2014, archived from the original on 19 April 2018.
  8. ^ Luis Miguel Echegaray and Rob Smyth, "Paralympics 2016: Ellie Simmonds wins 200m IM gold with world record – as it happened", The Guardian, 13 September 2016.
  9. ^ a b Sam Ruddock, Sky Sports Living for Sport, archived from the original on 18 October 2016.
  10. ^ "The Great Britain Cycling Team's para squad were unstoppable on day two of the UCI Para-Cycling World Championships, taking home six gold medals and two silver", British Cycling, 21 October 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Six titles for Great Britain on day two of the UCI 2022 Para-cycling Track World Championships", Union Cycliste Internationale, 21 October 2022.
  12. ^ 2022 Points: Sam Ruddock, British Cycling, retrieved 29 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Cycling World Championships 2023: Sam Ruddock wins C1 1km time trial gold", BBC Sport, 5 August 2023.
  14. ^ 2023 Points: Sam Ruddock, British Cycling, retrieved 29 April 2025.
  15. ^ a b "'I do believe the saying 'if you don't see it you can't be it'' - Sam Ruddock", Paralympics GB, 25 October 2023.
  16. ^ Andy Giddings, "British Paralympian reported missing in Las Vegas", BBC News, 27 April 2025.
  17. ^ Joe Coughlan, "British Paralympian Sam Ruddock reported missing in Las Vegas", The Guardian, 27 April 2025.
  18. ^ Shannen Headley, "Paralympian missing in Las Vegas found - police", BBC News, 28 April 2025.
  19. ^ Sam Joseph, "Paralympian Sam Ruddock located safe after being reported missing in Las Vegas", The Athletic (New York Times), 28 April 2025.
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