Birth name Joshua Andrew Howard Occupation Athlete Sport Track & field | Event Long jump | |
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Website www.joshuaandrewhoward.com Education Loreto College, Manchester | ||
Joshua Andrew Howard (born 30. December 1998) is an international athlete from Stockport, England. He competes in the long jump in the T38 classification and represented Great Britain at the 2016 European Championships in Grosseto.
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Personal history
Joshua Howard was born in Stockport in 1998. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was born. He attended Reddish Vale High School, then Loreto College In Manchester.
Athletic career
Howard first became involved with the sport at a late stage when he was aged 11. His first club was Manchester Harriers, based at Sports City, Manchester. Howard got involved in multiple sports including football and basketball, he trained with Manchester Harriers for four years mainly focusing on the 100m and 200m events.
In late 2015, after competing in no competitions, he joined Stockport Harriers where he was introduced to the long jump by Joe Frost. On 5 December, Howard competed in his first long jump competition at Loughborough University, securing a jump of 4.48m, which saw him break the T38 British record.
On 30 January 2016, Howard went back to Loughborough University to compete in the 60m (securing a time of 8.36 seconds)including long jump, where he beat the British Athletics Paralympic Entry Standard with a first round jump of 5.09m.
Howard was invited to Grosseto, Italy to be internationally classified as a T38 athlete. He then went on to compete and secured a PB of 5.32m. When he returned he was picked for the IPC European Championships in Grosseto to compete in the T38 long jump with the likes of Richard Whitehead.
Howard secured his senior debut, skipping the junior level, and achieving his international vest. Howard competed on 16 June 2016, securing a jump of 5.42, finishing third (no medal).
When Howard returned, he was not selected for Rio 2016, but plans to focus on London 2017 at the world Para Athletic Championships as said in multiple interviews.
On the 22nd of July Josh attended the London Premier of The BFG making this his first ever red carpet appearance back in the summer of 2016
In September of 2016 Josh moved coaches form Joe Frost to Keith Hunter after a not so successful year in terms of distance and selection it is still know that he represents Stockport Harriers
Sponsors
Howard started to gain sponsors in early 2015 when his international debut took off. He has had a wide range of help from both large and small companies. Viageo was Howard's first official sponsor; it is unclear what they offered him, but it was a good starting point for any beginning athlete. Howard then received kit sponsor from New Balance due to his recent achievements throughout the year. He also got sponsored by Oxygen Free Jumping and Ever Sheds later on in the year