John Jackson is a British bobsledder and Royal Marines commando

Commando

In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...

.

Career

He took up bobsleighing at the age of 28 and in September 2005 he trialled at the University of Bath

University of Bath

The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....

 and won a place in the Europa Cup Team. Just 4 months later he was selected to compete as a driver in the Europa Cup team. After his first successful season, he made his world cup debut as a driver in 2007. He became the British Champion in 2008. In 2011 John won gold and two bronze madals in the Europa Cup in St Moritz and was the first British man to ever do this.

Thereafter, Jackson has had a meteoric rise through the ranks that meant he was given the nod as the main British driver.
Jackson's girlfriend Paula Walker

Paula Walker

Paula Walker is a British bobsledder who has competed since 2007. Her best World Cup finish was ninth in the two-woman event at Park City, Utah in February 2009....

 is also involved in the bobsleigh

Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....

 sport. She too was recruited while serving in the British Armed Forces

British Armed Forces

The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...

, in her instance with the Royal Signals. Paula has admitted several times the huge support that she gets from her family and John Jackson.

Military Service

Jackson is a Corporal in the Commando unit of the British Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

. He has been deployed in several missions including Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

Achievements

British Champion: 2008

World Championships

FIBT World Championships

The FIBT World Championships, part of the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing , have taken place on an annual basis in non-Winter Olympic years since 1930. A two-man event was included in 1931 with a combined championship occurring in 1947...

:

• 9th in 2007
  FIBT World Championships 2007
  The FIBT World Championships 2007 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record twenty-first time, doing so previously in 1931 , 1935 , 1937 , 1938 , 1939 , 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1989 , 1990 , 1997 , 1998 , and 2001...
  
   (4 man crew)

• 13th in 2008
  FIBT World Championships 2008
  The FIBT World Championships 2008 ran February 11–24, 2008 in Altenberg, Germany for the fifth time, having done so in 1991 , 1994 , 1999 , and 2000 . It is the first time Altenberg has hosted all of the events at one championship...
  
   (4 man crew)

• 22nd in 2009
  FIBT World Championships 2009
  The FIBT World Championships 2009, officially known as the Bauhaus FIBT Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships, 20 February to 1 March 2009 at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York for the ninth time, doing so previously in 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1997 , and...
  
   (2 man crew)

• 17th in 2009
  FIBT World Championships 2009
  The FIBT World Championships 2009, officially known as the Bauhaus FIBT Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships, 20 February to 1 March 2009 at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York for the ninth time, doing so previously in 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1997 , and...
  
   (4 man crew)

• 20th in 2011
  FIBT World Championships 2011
  The FIBT World Championships 2011 takes place from 14 February 2011 until 27 February in Königssee, Germany for the fifth time, doing so previously in 1979, 1986, and 1990 , and 2004...
  
   (2 man crew)

John Jackson also achieved:

• 2006 Navy Novice Champion
• 2005 Army Novice Champion
• 2005 European Novice Push Championships: Bronze Medallist

External links

• http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/royal-marines/corporal-john-jackson/
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/9164897.stm
• http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/26022011/58/machata-leads-halfway-stage.html
• http://www.bobteamgb.org/menathletes/a/53/
• http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/sport/8865548.WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIPS__Wiltshire_competitors_help_GB_to_fourth/