My name is John Ruddy and I am a 25 year old athlete who is profoundly deaf due to having meningitis when I was 3 years old.

I started doing athletics when I was 13 years old and still enjoy competing in the sport to this day. I have represented Great Britain 7 times since 2007, with my most recent cap being in July 2015 where I travelled to Bydgoszcz, Poland for the 9th European Deaf Athletics Championships and won a bronze medal in the 200m.

Before this I won another bronze medal in 2011 in the 200m and finished 4th in the 100m, both were new British Deaf Athletics Records.

I am currently in training, working hard towards the Indoor European Athletics Championships in March where I will run in the 60m. It will be a build up to the World Deaf Athletics Championships in Bulgaria in June.

Unfortunately, unlike other sports teams, deaf athletics teams recieve no financial support and are fully self-funded, relying on donations and support from the general public and local businesses.

Any help in getting me to the World Deaf Athletics Championships would be greatly appreciated and I will do my best to bring back a World Medal to my home town of Glasgow 🙂

Thank you 🙂