Survivor: The Shocking and Inspiring Story of a True Champion

Fatima Whitbread had the worst possible start in life. Abandoned as a baby, she spent much of her childhood in and out of children's homes. A brief, disastrous stay with her birth mother saw her raped by her mother's drunken boyfriend - while her mother held a knife to her throat to 'quieten her down'. Fatima was only twelve at the time.

Athletics was her saviour: local athletics coach Margaret Whitbread took the young Fatima under her wing, eventually adopting her. Fatima competed in three...