Danny Crates
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World and Paralympic 800m gold medallist
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Lost his right arm in a horrific accident whilst working in Australia in 1994
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Published author of his motivational autobiography, Danny Boy
Danny Crates is one of the UK's Paralympic hero's. One of most successful athletes of the past decade, without question the pinnacle of his career was claiming gold in the T46 class at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.
Danny is able to look back fondly on a glittering career that also saw him attain European Championship, Paralympic World Cup winner's medals, as well as world records along the way.
Facing a promising rugby career, playing at both regional and county level, Danny Crates suffered a horrific accident in 1994 whilst travelling and working in Australia, losing his right arm. Not to be deterred, Danny resumed his rugby activities, becoming the only known arm amputee playing club rugby in the country, receiving world wide media attention. He also turned his attention to athletics.
As a natural speedster, he soon found that he was competing with the best in the World in his event, the T46 400m arm amputee class. In the 1998 World Championships, Danny made his international debut, winning a silver medal in the 4 x 400m relay event, whilst setting a new European record. However, it was at the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000 where he began his incredible individual medal tally. He was narrowly beaten into a bronze medal position in the 400m. The following year saw Danny capture the European 400m title.
He then turned his attention to the 800m - a transition which lead him to secure both the 2003 World Indoor 800m title and European 800m outdoor title. In 2004 he set a new world outdoor record with a time of 1:53.29 and became Paralympic champion. After Athens, Danny Crates set his sights firmly on the 2006 world championships, where he again won gold.
Danny was given the honour of carrying the GB flag at the Opening ceremony in Beijing 2008, but was unable to compete due to an injury sustained on the day before he was due to race. Danny reluctantly retired from International competition in July 2009 but now has his sights firmly set on becoming one of Britain's top platform motivational speakers.
Simply put, Danny Crates is one of life's natural characters; he will speak openly and from the heart. He shares his experiences readily with others, from young schoolchildren to seasoned corporate executives. Danny is an excellent speaker and motivator.
His vast experience of making keynote speeches added with his natural charm, humour and ability to tailor his delivery to suit the needs of the client ensure that additional impact required to make any event or conference one to remember!
Since retiring from international athletics, Danny crates continues to build on his reputation as a leading motivational and inspirational speaker in the world of business and sport, delivering keynote presentations around the world that leave his audience motivated and inspired to achieve their goals and targets both personally and within business.
A master storyteller – Danny's 15-year corporate speaker experience shines through. He is dynamic and presents with warmth and humour, quickly captivating his audience, building his presentation around his "5 Key Elements to Success" which resonates with every department within the business or team, and guarantees excellent returns for his clients' way beyond presentation day.
Danny Crates tailors his presentation for each audience and transfers his Paralympic success into results for them, whether it be overcoming hurdles, change management, optimising personal performance and excellence, goal setting, teamwork or building exceptional results from failure.
Alongside his motivational speaking, Danny is a published author of his motivational autobiography "Danny Boy", TV presenter and sports commentator, and he continues to develop his own business portfolio. He is patron of several charities and loves to challenge himself through sporting fundraising events, including Ride Across Britain, Wings for Life World Run, Ride London, the London Marathon and many more.
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Speaking clips
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Working with Danny at our inaugural company conference and awards dinner was an absolute delight. From the initial enquiry through to the delivery on the day Danny was 100% aligned to what we were wanting to achieve from his guest speaker session. Through Danny’s own challenges and experiences it helped to embed our theme around leadership, team work and resilience which resonated well with our attendees. Danny took on the role of compere for our awards dinner which really helped to elevate the event to one of celebration that all were able to enjoy. Thank you Danny for being an integral part of our inaugural event.
It was a great pleasure to work with Danny Crates. Danny is a powerful and dynamic presenter who leaves a lasting impression. He inspired the entire team and delivered beyond expected; professional yet relaxed style and also touched people’s hearts.
Danny Crates was one of the most inspirational guests at our recent Power to Perform week. His talk was incredibly inspiring and applicable to everybody, proving that no hurdle in life is impossible to overcome. His charm, humour and honesty were met with approval by a very engaged audience and I know that each person left having been motivated and touched by Danny’s unique story.
I just wanted to get in contact to say a huge thank you for your presentation and talk on Thursday evening. The content and messaging was extremely relevant to the sales team in the room and an excellent mixture of sentiment and humour, and everyone learnt a lot around motivating themselves, breaking down big goals into easy to manage milestones. All of the feedback has been very positive and you set the launch off to a brilliant start and got everyone into the winning mindset, so for that I am very grateful!
Danny was brilliant and exactly what the conference required. His presentation touched on themes of goal setting, improvement and achievement which were extremely relevant for all the universities in attendance. The mix of humour and seriousness was spot on also. Can I also say how nice it was dealing with Danny, he was lovely and we really appreciate that he stayed around for a chat. Thanks again!
Danny presented at three staff events, speaking to almost 500 employees in total, and each time the response from our guests was overwhelmingly positive. Danny is very comfortable, genuine and engaging, both in front of an audience and when speaking individually to our guests. His presentations were incredibly inspiring and motivating, and were delivered with a wonderful mix of sincerity, clarity and good humour. Prior to the events Danny made sure he understood our brief, he asked all the right questions, and his presentation reflected this. He was a pleasure to work with, and I am looking forward to having the opportunity to work with him again.
Danny gave a superb presentation and Q&A session to the staff at Rutherford Briant. Danny has a captivating story and great style and humour in presenting it. His philosophy of making incremental gains really resonated with all of the team. Everyone who attended found Danny to be highly motivational, inspirational and a great example of how someone so down to earth and likeable can overcome and achieve so much through positive mind-set, goal setting, persistence and hard work. I would strongly recommend Danny to any business looking for an energetic way to motivate and inspire their staff.
Danny was our Master of Ceremonies for the Thurrock Civic Awards. He was brilliant. Our awards finalists are very humble people and Danny made every one of them feel very special. As the organiser it took just one phone call with Danny to be totally confident that he was going to be perfect for our event. Professional throughout, very amiable and with the ability to make everyone relax, knowing that he was going to do everything he could to make the evening go smoothly. His after dinner speech was inspirational, full of humour and with lots of local references too. Nothing was too much trouble. I cannot recommend Danny highly enough.
Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Danny Crates. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.
How to book Danny Crates for your event
To book Danny Crates, please submit an online enquiry to booking.agent@nmp.co.uk or contact one of our booking agents on +44 (0)20 3822 0003.
One of Britain's best-known Paralympic athletes - winner of 14 medals
Two-time gold medal winner in two different sports at a same Paralympic Games
Double Paralympic medallist for judo
Former British army officer and land mine amputee
Disabled explorer and inspiring motivational speaker
Explorer who became the first blind man to race to the South Pole
