Meet the outstanding Olympians in Newcastle's alumni community
6 April marks the anniversary of the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896. To celebrate the occasion, we're spotlighting the inspirational alumni who have competed in the Olympic and Paralympic Games over the years.
6 April 2026
On this day in 1896, the modern Olympic Games was born.
On 6 April 1896, the Games of the I Olympiad was officially opened - the first international Olympic Games held in modern history.
Held over the course of 10 days and featuring 14 nations and 241 athletes, the 1896 Summer Olympics provided the template for what is today one of the largest events in the global sporting calendar.
While Newcastle University's connection with the Olympic Games doesn't go quite as far back as the competition's 130-year history, you may be surprised to know we have many distinguished sports stars in our alumni community who have competed in the Games over the past seven decades. Read on to meet them!
Alan Lillington MBE (MBBS, 1956)
At just 19 years old, Alan Lillington competed as a British sprinter in the men’s 100 metres at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He went on to represent England at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, finishing fourth in the relay race.
Alan studied medicine at King’s College, which later became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne following the dissolution of the federal University of Durham in 1963. He spent most of his career working as a paediatrician in Sunderland.
Sir Brendan Foster CBE (Honorary MEd, 1976)
Sir Brendan Foster is a British former long-distance runner and founder of the Great North Run. He has competed in three Olympic Games, most notably winning a Bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
He was awarded BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1974 after winning a Gold medal in the 5,000 metres at the European Championships and breaking the 3,000 metres World Record on his home track, Gateshead International Stadium.
Having taken part in the Round the Bays Race in 1979, a city to coastal route in New Zealand, Brendan envisioned bringing a similar experience to the North East and decided to establish the Great North Run. 12,264 runners joined the start line for the first race in 1981 and since then it has become a highlight in the North East’s sporting calendar, welcoming 60,000 participants annually – from professional athletes to amateur runners raising money for worthy causes.
Ed Coode MBE (BSc Marine Biology 1997)
Ed Coode is a former British rower, who has represented Team GB at two Olympic Games.
Ed rowed to victory at the 2004 Olympics in Athens winning a Gold medal in the men’s coxless four. Prior to this, he competed in Sydney at the 2000 Olympics where he narrowly missed out on a Bronze medal in the coxless pair. Ed has also won two World Championships during his rowing career, first in 1999 and again in 2001.
He was part of the Newcastle University Boat Club during his time at university and played a crucial role in establishing the inaugural ‘Boat Race of the North’ on the River Tyne between Newcastle and Durham boat clubs, which has since become an annual fixture.
Ed announced that he was retiring from rowing in 2004 and went on to qualify as a solicitor. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours for his services to sport.
Alastair Heathcote (BSc Environmental Science & Agricultural Ecology, 2000)
Following Ed’s success, Alastair Heathcote made it to the rowing podium at the consecutive Olympic Games in Beijing. He was part of the men’s eight who won Silver.
Alistair was initially selected for Team GB’s senior squad in 2006 and won two Bronze medals the following year at the Rowing World Cup in Amsterdam and Rowing World Championships in Munich.
Jonathan Edwards CBE (Honorary DCL, 2001)
Jonathan Edwards is a British triple jumper, who won a Gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and Silver at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
He is renowned for breaking the world record for the triple jump (not once but twice!) at the World Champions in 1995, jumping 18.29 m. He was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for this exceptional performance, and was awarded an MBE in 1996 then a CBE in 2001 for his achievements.
Jonathan retired in 2003 and since then has regularly appeared on television as a sports commentator and presenter.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE, DL (Honorary DCL, 2005)
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is a former British Paralympian who has competed in five Paralympic Games, winning a staggering 11 Gold medals, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze.
She made her Paralympic debut at the Seoul Games in 1988 where she won a Bronze medal in the 400 metres wheelchair race. At her final Paralympic Games at Athens in 2004, Tanni won two Gold medals in the 100 metres and 400 metres wheelchair races.
Tanni announced her retirement in 2007 after a successful career of holding over 30 world records. She was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 and was given the life peer title of Baroness Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe in Stockon-On-Tees in 2010 in recognition of her advocacy for disabled sport.
Susannah Rodgers MBE (BA Modern Languages, 2005)
Susannah Rodgers is a British Paralympic swimmer who has represented Team GB at two Paralympic Games - London 2012 and Rio 2016.
At her Paralympic debut in London, Susannah won 3 Bronze medals in the 400 metres freestyle, 100 metres freestyle, and 4x100 metres freestyle relay. She built on her success at the following Games in Rio winning a Gold medal in the women’s 50 metres butterfly S7 and Bronze medals in the women’s 400 metres and 50 metres freestyle.
Throughout her career, Susannah has won a total of 30 international medals. She is also an advocate for disability, empowerment and inclusion, holding several Non-Executive Director, Ambassador and Patron roles. In the 2017 New Year Honours, Susannah was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to swimming.
Harry Glover (BA Politics & History, 2018)
Harry competed as part of Team GB’s rugby sevens squad in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The team made it to the semi-finals, with a defeat to Argentina denying them of a Bronze medal. He has also represented England at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, and won two bronze and one silver medal in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
Harry signed for Stade Français in 2021 to compete in the Top 14 and stayed for two seasons before switching back to international sevens rugby.
Seasoned Olympians Tom Ford (BA Geography & Planning, 2014), James Rudkin (BA Politics & History, 2015) and Emily Ford (BA Fine Art, 2017) made their Olympic debuts in the delayed Tokyo Games, before returning to represent Team GB in Paris 2024 alongside fellow alumni Lola Anderson (BA English Literature, 2019), Will Stewart (MPhys Physics, 2019) and James Robson (MA International Politics, 2018).
Tom Ford and James Rudkin - who both captained the men's rowing team at university - joined the senior Team GB team together in 2017 and were part of the men’s eight who won a Bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, they have become double world champions winning Gold at both the 2022 and 2023 World Rowing Championships.
Emily joined the senior team a year after graduation in 2018 and made history at the World Championships at Belgrade in 2023, when she and teammate Esme Booth became the first British women to qualify two boats for an Olympic Games at the same regatta.
And William became a world champion after winning coxless four at the 2022 World Rowing Championships.
In Paris, our rowers bagged multiple medals including Gold in the men's eight and women's quadruple sculls, and Bronze in the women's eight. A reserve athlete for the Paris Olympics, James Robson has since went on to become World Champion in the Coxless Four in 2025, while Lola Anderson was awarded an MBE in 2025 for services to rowing.
Photo credit: Benedict Tufnell
