When Charles was young he had a keen interest in athletics, however, injuries plagued him and he could no longer compete in the sport. At age 18 Charles became interested in coaching, gained through teaching children whilst studying for his degree in physical education. In 1987 he committed full-time to coaching and was selected to be the coach for the Dutch javelin team. After a couple of years building his experience as a coach, he was promoted to the role of technical director of combined events. In this role, his most significant venture was coaching Huang Zhilhong at the 1995 World Championships. At these World Championships, the athlete took home a silver medal due to Charles’ expert training.
In 1994 Charles met Denise Lewis for the first time, and would later go on to successfully coach the individual. Under Charles’ expertise, Denise went on to be victorious at the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships in 1998, as well as the 1999 World Championships. Later in 2000 at the Sydney Olympic Games, Denise claimed gold in the heptathlon under Charles’ guidance, the first of his coaching ventures that ended in a medal.
In recognition of his commitment to coaching, Charles was awarded the 2000 Amsterdam Coach of the Year award. Charles continued to successfully coach individuals, being appointed as the UK Athletics technical director for jumps and combined events. He coached Dean Macey Ashia Hansen and Jonathan Edwards whilst in this role. After a while a new position became available for Charles, performance director at UK Athletics. However, Charles decided to not take the role and instead opted to move to the Netherlands to become the technical director of the Netherlands athletics team.
Charles was very successful in this role as the technical director, taking the Netherlands team to their second-highest Olympic medal tally whilst competing at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. After a successful period in this role, Charles decided to return to England, taking on the role of national head coach in 2008. In 2012, after failing to meet his medal target, Charles stepped down as head coach.
With his diverse history as a coach, Charles has the qualities needed to provide entertainment for any kind of event. He is able to supply audiences with a number of personal anecdotes from his experiences as a coach, perfect for any kind of audience.
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