He soon established himself on the global scene, taking bronze at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

After winning another silver in the 60 m hurdles at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships, he won European and Commonwealth gold medals in 1990.

He finished fifth at the 2000 Summer Olympics and his last major medals came in 2002, taking European indoor and outdoor gold and a Commonwealth silver.

He played football and cricket for the county and rugby union and basketball for his school and joined the athletics club Birchgrove Harriers, which nurtured his talent.

"[6] Under coach and close friend Malcolm Arnold, Jackson started out as a promising decathlete before switching to high hurdles.

[citation needed] He was the subject of controversy in 1998 when he decided to run for cash in Tokyo, Japan, rather than compete in the Commonwealth Games for Wales.

However, he started his broadcasting career in 2004 by co-hosting, with Sally Gunnell, the BBC reality TV programme Born to Win.

[9][10] The English reggae band Aswad name-checked him on their 1994 hit song "Shine": Him a floating like a butterfly, the hurdling man – Yes, me-a-chat about Colin Jackson.

[18][19] After retiring from athletics, he became the face of BBC Raise Your Game with Colin Jackson in which he talked to high-profile international stars about the importance of learning.

Jackson, who is of Jamaican descent, was the subject of an episode of the BBC TV genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?,[21] broadcast in the UK on 20 September 2006.

[22] In March 2007 Jackson starred as the 'hidden celebrity' in an episode of the award-winning CBBC gameshow Hider in the House, hosted by JK and Joel.

[23] Colin Jackson appeared in the BBC One documentary The Making of Me on 31 July 2008, which attempted to find out what had made him such a talented athlete.

One clip showed a stadium in Jamaica with 30,000 people cheering on children taking part in an average school sports meet.

[citation needed] In 2009 Jackson shared his writing tips on the adult learning website "BBC raw words".

[citation needed] In 2012 Jackson made a cameo appearance as himself in an episode of the UK TV comedy drama Stella.

In February 2019 Jackson was inaugurated as a Chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University, after being awarded with an Honorary Fellowship in 2016 for his contribution to sport.

[29] Ambassadors include Mark Foster, Donovan Bailey, Suzanne Packer, Fernando Montano, Siân Lloyd and Jamie Baulch.

[30][31] Jackson holds special responsibilities for developing the S4K brand and help the mission to transform children's sport across the UK and international markets through the company's franchise network.

[citation needed] In 2020 Jackson joined other celebrities in a new S4C television series called Iaith ar Daith ('Language Road Trip') in which they take a crash course in the Welsh language while travelling around Wales.