Harry Whittle
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British (English) | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 May 1922 Bolton, England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 11 May 1990 (aged 68) Bolton, England | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||
| Event | 400 metres hurdles | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Bath AC Reading Athletic Club | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Harold 'Harry' Whittle (2 May 1922 – 11 May 1990) was a British hurdler and long jumper who competed at two Olympic Games.[1]
Biography
Whittle was educated at Queen Street Council School and Bolton School before taking a civil engineering degree at the University of Manchester.[2]
Whittle became the British 440 yards hurdles champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1947 AAA Championships.[3][4]
After successfully retaining his title at the 1948 AAA Championships, he represented the Great Britain team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, in the 400 metres hurdles event.[5]
He won his third consecutive AAA title before representing the England athletics team at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand,[6] competing in four events; the 440 yards, 440 yards hurdles, long jump and triple jump.[7][8]
Just five months later he won his fourth AAA title and also won a bronze medal at the 1950 European Athletics Championships in Brussels. He then proceeded to win three more AAA titles in 1951, 1952[9] and 1953, making him a seven consecutive British champion in 440 yards hurdles.[10] His all-round ability also enabled him to claim two long jump national championships in 1947 and 1949.[11]
Whittle represented the Great Britain team at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, where he was named the team captain.[5]
References
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Harry Whittle Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
- ^ "Harry Whittle – Old Boy and British Olympic Athletics Captain". Issuu. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ "Great run follows air-taxi dash". Daily News (London). 19 July 1947. Retrieved 9 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Army man steals limelight and 2 titles". Daily News (London). 21 July 1947. Retrieved 9 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- ^ "Auckland 1950 Team". Team England. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ "1950 Athletes". Team England.
- ^ "Harry Whittle would be ideal Olympic team captain". Daily Herald. 23 June 1952. Retrieved 21 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- ^ "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 9 April 2025.