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Robert Champion CBE (born 4 June 1948) is an English former jump jockey, who won the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti. His triumph, while recovering from cancer, was made into the 1984 film Champions , with John Hurt portraying Champion.
- 4 June 1948 (age 75), Sussex, England
Features | 1 st April 2021. This year’s Grand National marks the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest sporting stories, Aldaniti and Bob Champion winning the famous race. When they lined up at Aintree in 1981 for the world‐famous race, Aldaniti and his jockey Bob Champion had overcome incredible odds just to be there.
Apr 9, 2021 · 17:27, 09 Apr 2021. It’s hard to believe but it’s now been a full four decades since jockey Bob Champion, two years after being diagnosed with cancer, won the 1981 Grand National atop of Aldaniti, one of the most famous victories in the Aintree steeplechase’s history. In the build-up to the 2021 instalment, Champion, now 72, sat down with ...
- Overview
- 'I didn't have time to celebrate'
Bob Champion became the author of one of racing's greatest fairytales when Aldaniti triumphed in the 1981 renewal - with both the horse and his jockey having overcome great adversity on their path to Aintree fame.
For Champion, that adversity was a testicular cancer diagnosis in 1979, after which it was discovered the disease was spreading throughout his body and chemotherapy was his only chance of survival.
Aldaniti's life hung in the balance too, with two serious tendon injuries halting his racing career and causing vets to advise the gelding was euthanised rather than rehabilitated.
Nick Embiricos, the horse's owner, knew the chestnut was essential to Champion's recovery and would not allow it, thus leaving one of the most endearing partnerships in the sport intact when Champion was eventually given the all-clear.
What happened next captured the imagination of the world, a four-length victory in the most famous race of all - an emotive triumph over misfortune that was later immortalised both in print and on screen.
Aldaniti was a 10-1 chance for the race, his chief rival being the great hunter chaser Spartan Missile, ridden by John Thorne, but Champion retained complete faith in his horse and had not even considered the possibility of defeat.
Champion knew the agreed tactics had been abandoned at that point and was already arming himself with examples of successful front-running rides to justify his departure from the game plan to Gifford.
"All I could think about then was excuses for why I'm there in front - I went through five Red Rum Nationals in my mind," he said.
"Also Bob Davies, when he won on Lucius, he took it up too early and still won - I had all those excuses!
"I remember looking to one side and seeing Rubstic, who'd won a couple of years before, and on my other side was Sebastian V, who finished second the same year, so they were another two excuses.
"Eventually when I was two out, I thought 'I've got to keep hold of his head' because his legs were like glass and keeping him sound was the most important thing.
"So I thought, 'I'm going to keep holding him together, just hold him together and don't lose your cool' - and it worked."
Apr 2, 2011 · Bob Champion: The National treasure who keeps on running. Jockey who defied cancer to win world's greatest steeplechase and inspire a movie explains his love of Aintree and the battle to stay...
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Apr 9, 2021 · Grand National winner Bob Champion: On 40 years since the greatest comeback of all. On the 40th anniversary of his remarkable comeback win – the former jockey will mark the occasion with...
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