Christopher Gitsham

Christopher Gitsham
Christopher Gitsham (1912)
Full name	Christopher William Gitsham
nation	South African Union
birthday	October 15, 1888
place of birth	Pietermaritzburg ,  South Africa
date of death	June 16, 1956
Career
discipline	Long distance running
Best performance	Marathon: 2:37:14 h
Medal table
Olympic games 0 × 1 × 0 ×
Olympic games gold Stockholm 1912 Marathon run

Christopher Gitsham ( Christopher William "Christian" Gitsham ; born October 15, 1888 in Pietermaritzburg , † June 16, 1956 ) was a South African long-distance runner . In the many publications he is listed with his substitute first name Christian or his nickname Chris .

In 1910, Gitsham first appeared as the South African champion over four miles . In the same year he also took part in a marathon in Cape Town , where he met his future opponent Ken McArthur . McArthur won, Gitsham gave up along the way. In 1911 Gitsham repeated his championship success over four miles and also won the South African championship title over ten miles.

In 1912 he took part in the championships, did not participate because he stayed in London , where he in preparation for the Olympic Games in Stockholm at the Polytechnic Marathon participated. This run, which has been carried out to this day, has been held since 1909 as a tribute to the dramatic marathon of the Games of 1908 over the now classic distance of 42.195 kilometers. Together with the Briton James Corkery , Gitsham ran a very fast race. The times of the two athletes could have been recorded as the fastest times run up to then over this length of the route, had they not been briefed incorrectly in the stadium, which shortened the distance by 330 meters. Gitsham finished second behind Crokery with 2: 37: 14.6 hours.

In Stockholm, Gitsham was one of the favorites in the marathon because of his run in London. In the very high temperatures, many runners struggled, but Gitsham didn't seem to mind the heat. From the beginning he lived up to his role as a favorite and stayed in the top group. After 20 km he took the lead. After 25 km his compatriot Ken McArthur caught up. Both now ran together unchallenged towards the goal. According to Gitsham's statement, both had agreed on the way to stop briefly at the last drinks station, about 2 km from the destination, and then to run to the finish together. Gitsham stopped as agreed, but McArthur kept running and even accelerated. In the finish as second Gitsham described his compatriot McArthur as a "dishonorable sportsman".

In 1913 Gitsham was again the South African champion over four and ten miles, after which it became quiet around him. In 1920 he reappeared. He prepared intensively for the marathon at the Olympic Games in Antwerp . As the only representative of his country in this run, he came early to undertake several training runs on the Olympic course. This seemed to be paying off, as Gitsham was already in the lead after 3 km and set an extremely high pace. He was able to hold the lead up to 27 km, but then fell back to fifth place by 37 km. Shortly afterwards, he gave up.

The placements at the Olympic Games for Christopher Gitsham:

• V. 1912 Summer Olympics, Stockholm
  • Marathon - silver with 2: 37: 52.0 hours (gold to Ken McArthur from South Africa with 2: 36: 54.8 hours; bronze to Gaston Strobino from the USA with 2: 38: 42.4 hours)
• VI. 1920 Summer Olympics, Antwerp
  • Marathon - abandoned after 37 km

Nothing is known about his personal life or about his life after his last participation in the Olympics.

Web links

• Christopher Gitsham in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )