Seiko UK is proud to announce the appointment of Paralympic Gold medallist, charity, and community champion Richard Whitehead MBE as the new Seiko Prospex UK Brand Ambassador.
Renowned for their watchmaking innovation and international sports timekeeping, Seiko Watches has created a stream of world firsts through their in-house manufacturing since 1881.
Their high-precision timing equipment is endorsed by international sports federations at many of the world’s leading sports events. In fact, they were the official timekeepers of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and five subsequent Olympic games.
They have also timed some of Richard Whitehead’s best racing performances, including the London 2017 World Para Athletics 200m Final, where he took home the gold.
A Multiple Gold Paralympic medallist with a double through-knee congenital amputation, Richard developed a passion for sport from an early age. Driven by a desire to compete as a professional athlete and push boundaries, Richard has set World Records for athletes with a double amputation in both the Full and Half Marathon categories.
Throughout his career he has not only tackled the challenges of disability, but also the need to innovate and refocus his talent; ineligible to compete in the Paralympic Marathon on home soil in London 2012 he retained and took home the gold medal and a new World Record in the T42 200m category.
Charity and community involvement are huge motivating factors for Richard and in 2013 he completed the astoming feat of 40 marathons in 40 days for Sarcoma UK and Scope. This accomplioment meant that he became the first UK athlete to run the length of the country.
In 2021, he launched his own venture: The Richard Whitehead Foundation, which aims to inspire and tackle the barriers faced by people with disabilities in accessing sport and being engaged in their community.
The Seiko Prospex philosophy of ‘Keep Going Forward’ is one that Richard has always lived by, and it is this determination and attitude that he brings to all aspects of both sport and life.
Discussing his collaboration with the brand, Richard, said, “my parents encouraged me to live a life without limits, to participate in sports. Now as an athlete on the world stage, motivational speaker and Dad, I am delighted to be able to pay that message forwards and inspire others in overcoming life’s toughest challenges, as the new brand ambassador for Seiko Prospex.
He added that. For me, as timekeeper of elite sports, Seiko is synonymous with precision and accuracy; I’m proud to represent a brand who have recorded some of my best racing performances.”