[citation needed] Sharman was born in Lagos, Nigeria on 12 September 1984 but his family moved shortly after to the United Kingdom and he grew up in Corby, Northamptonshire.

[2] His first experiences of track and field competition were as a junior high jumper and John Anderson, the referee for the UK television series Gladiators and coach of former world record holder Dave Moorcroft, urged him to focus on athletics.

[4] A shoulder injury that year had impaired his javelin throwing ability and he made the decision to abandon the decathlon to focus solely on hurdling.

However, he was a last-minute call up for the British team: he was not included in the original line-up but he set a new personal best of 13.44 seconds in Loughborough in July, making the "A" qualification standard for the event.

[2][18] He was the fifth fastest qualifier in the heats of the 110 m hurdles,[19] but he made more of an impact in the semi-finals: the favourite in the race, world record holder Dayron Robles, pulled up injured and Sharman emphatically won with a personal best of 13.38, celebrating as he crossed the finish line.

[24] He performed well on the athletics circuit, finishing just a hundredth behind David Payne at the British Grand Prix and taking a close fourth place at Memorial Van Damme.

[25][26][27] A wrist injury ruled Sharman out of competition at the start of 2010,[28] but he returned in time for the national championships and defeated Andrew Turner to lift his first outdoor title.

A stomach bug affected him during the event but he managed to complete and English podium sweep alongside Turner and Lawrence Clarke, taking home the silver medal – his first at a major international competition.

[30] His father David Sharman was also involved in sport, previously playing rugby union for Northampton Saints, in addition to being a professional pianist.