JJ Chalmers

John-James Chalmers (born 20 December 1987) is a British television presenter, public speaker and Invictus Games medallist from Scotland. He was injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2011, while serving as a Royal Marine.

JJ Chalmers
Chalmers at the 2016 Invictus Games
Born
John-James Chalmers

(1987-12-20) 20 December 1987[1][2]
Spouse(s)Kornelia Chalmers
Children1 daughter & 1 son
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Marines
Years of service
  • 2005–16
Rank Lance corporal
Unit42 Commando
Battles/warsISAF Occupation of Afghanistan
Sports career
CountryBritish Armed Forces
Sport
Medal record
Invictus Games
2014 LondonRecumbent road cycling
2014 LondonRecumbent road cycling
2014 London4 × 100m mixed relay

Early life

Chalmers is the son of John Chalmers, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2014 to 2015.[3] He attended Strathallan School and studied at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Bachelor of Education in 2009. He worked as a craft, design and technology teacher at Balerno Community High School in Edinburgh.[4]

As a Royal Marine reservist, he served in Helmand, Afghanistan with 42 Commando. In May 2011, he sustained severe injuries in an IED blast; he suffered facial injuries, lost two fingers and his right elbow disintegrated.[5] He remained in the Royal Marines during his rehabilitation until 2016.

Invictus Games

In September 2014, Chalmers was a medal winner in non-amputee cycling for Britain at the Invictus Games.[6] Captaining the trike team, he received a gold medal for the Men's IRecB1 Recumbent Circuit Race, as part of a British trio who crossed the finishing line together.[7] Earlier that day Chalmers had already won a bronze in the 1-mile time trial.[8] He also won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100m mixed relay race.[9]

Media career

Chalmers subsequently presented National Paralympic Day for Channel 4,[10] as well as an online show for the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha. In July 2016, he returned to the 2016 Invictus Games as an ambassador, telling his story at the opening ceremony as well as working with the BBC in their coverage of the games.

Chalmers featured on The Superhumans Show before travelling to Rio de Janeiro as a presenter for Channel 4's coverage of the 2016 Summer Paralympics,[11] as well as appearing as a guest on The Last Leg series Live from Rio.[10] After returning from Rio he hosted the Team GB's - Olympics and Paralympics Homecoming Parade in Manchester,[12] alongside Mark Chapman and Helen Skelton, which was simulcast on BBC One and Channel 4.

Owing to his background as a Royal Marine, Chalmers presented The People Remember, with Sophie Raworth,[13] a remembrance series honouring heroes both on the battlefield and the home front, shown throughout the week of remembrance, before appeared on the BBC's coverage of Remembrance at the Cenotaph.[7]

Also in 2016 Chalmers was co-commentator of the Lord Mayor's Show on BBC One, a role he has held since.[7]

On 21 February 2017, Chalmers began presenting some of the sports segments on the BBC News channel and BBC Breakfast.[7] He joined the BBC Sport Team, regularly working as a presenter and reporter on annual events like the Great North, Great Manchester Run and The London Marathon.[14] He also joined The One Show as a features Reporter and often pops up on the Green Sofa.

2017 also saw JJ begin working in radio, as part of BBC Radio 5 Live's, World Para Athletics coverage of London 2017, as well as presenting, the Sports Journalists Award Nominated radio documentary, To Helmand and Back.[15]

He closed out the year presenting the 2017 Invictus Games, held in Toronto.[16]

In 2018 he worked across a number of major sporting events, starting as BBC Sports trackside reporter for the World Athletics Indoor Championships, then as 5 Live's main reporter of the 2018 Winter Paralympics - in Pyeongchang, before presenting for BBC Sport's live television coverage of the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast and finally presenting BBC1 coverage of the 2018 Invictus Games, in Sydney, with Alex Jones.

Away from sport, Chalmers took part in The Pilgrimage: Road to Santiago,[17] where seven celebrities, including Ed Byrne, Neil Morrissey and Debbie McGee tackled a medieval pilgrimage, across the North of Spain, to see whether it still has relevance today. As well as taking on more roles as part of the BBC Events Team, including Trooping the Colour and the commemorations to mark the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day landings.[18] He was honoured to be chosen to narrate Scotland Remembers 100 Years of Armistice, a nationally broadcast service from Glasgow Cathedral.[19]

In 2019, he added cycling to his portfolio of sports coverage, as a part of the BBC's team working on RideLondon, 2019 UCI Road World Championships and Glasgow Track Cycling World Cup.

On 3 September 2020, it was announced that Chalmers would be taking part in the eighteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing. He danced with professional Amy Dowden. He was eliminated in the quarter finals of the competition, after losing the dance-off to Jamie Laing

Personal life

Chalmers is married to Kornelia; they have a daughter and a son together.[7][20]

References
  1. https://twitter.com/jjchalmersrm?lang=en%5B%5D
  2. Murphy, Victoria (14 May 2018). "Prince Harry invites Afghan veteran and Invictus Games champ to entire wedding". Daily Mirror.
  3. "JJ with his father, the Rev John Chalmers". The Courier. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  4. Barry, Maggie (3 July 2011). "Dad of soldier blown up in Afghanistan charts harrowing battle to recover in moving emails". Daily Record. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  5. Invictus Games: JJ Chalmers recalls being blown up. BBC. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  6. "JJ Chalmers Elite Military Athlete". Help for Heroes. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  7. "JJ Chalmers". Scout London. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  8. "2014 Results". Invictus Games Foundation. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  9. "Marine fights back to win Invictus Games medal". Edinburgh Evening News. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  10. "JJ Chalmers". British Film Institute. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  11. "Surviving bomb pushed me to be Paralympics presenter". BBC News. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  12. Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo - Manchester, UK. 17th Oct, 2016. Richard Whitehead (2nd left) and JJ Chalmers (left) with Hannah Cockcroft (right) and Helen Skelton. TeamGB and ParalympicsGB Heroes homecoming". Alamy. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  13. "BBC One - The People Remember". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  14. "JJ Chalmers". Sport On The Box. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  15. "Broadcast shortlist for 2017 British Sports Journalism awards – Sports Journalists' Association". Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  16. "BBC - JJ Chalmers Q&A - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  17. The Pilgrimage: Road to Santiago (TV Series 2018– ) - IMDb, retrieved 2 September 2020
  18. "Preparing for D-Day 75". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  19. ww100Admin (11 November 2018). "Scotland Remembers 100 Years of Armistice". ww100. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  20. Kelly, Guy (17 October 2020). "JJ Chalmers: 'Strictly will be daunting – but I've seen worse'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
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