Former world champion triple jumper, Phillips Idowu MBE, is due to appear in court to face drink-drive charges.
It is alleged that Idowu was more than twice the legal limit whilst driving through his home town of Epping, Essex. The Belgrave Harrier is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates ‘ Court on Monday 7 October.
Idowu won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was crowned world champion in 2009 but failed to get through the qualifying rounds at the London 2012 Olympics after a battle with injury left him unable to jump competitively for nearly three months prior to the games.
Idowu had surgery on his leg in the autumn of 2012 but continued to struggle for form through 2013 and in July he announced he was “taking a step back ” from the sport “for the foreseeable future “.
Away from the track he joined Jack Dee, Dara Ó Briain, Greg James, Mel C and Chelsee Healey in Through Hell and High Water, a Comic Relief challenge which involved British celebrities canoeing the most difficult rapids of the Zambezi River in early 2013. They raised over one £1 million for the charity. He also appeared in the BBC ‘s 2013 edition of Celebrity MasterChef, being eliminated in the second round.
