Don Finlay

Squadron Leader Donald Finlay (1941)

Don Finlay (actually Donald Osborne Finlay ; born May 27, 1909 in Christchurch , Dorset , † April 18, 1970 in Great Missenden , Buckinghamshire ) was a British hurdler whose special route was the 110-meter distance .

He had an astonishingly long career as a hurdler. His first major championship was the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he won bronze in 14.8 seconds behind the Americans George Saling and Percy Beard . In the 4 x 100 meter relay , he finished sixth with the British team in the final.

The British did not take part in the 1934 European Championships, but at the 1934 British Empire Games in London Finlay won over 120 yard hurdles in 15.2 s. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, he won silver behind the American and world record holder Forrest Towns in 14.4 seconds. In 1938 at the European Championships in Paris , Finlay won the gold medal in a European record time of 14.3 s. Second was the Swede Håkan Lidman , who was to become European champion in 1946.

At the outbreak of war Finlay was 30 years old, shortly after the end of the war he was 36 years old. But he came back anyway. At the 1948 Olympic Games in London, he took the Olympic oath . In the hurdles sprint, however, he fell in the lead. He reached his final final position in 1950 when he was fourth at the British Empire Games in Auckland over 120 yard hurdles with 14.7 s, with now over 40 years.

Don Finlay was 1.82 m tall and weighed 77 kg during his playing days.

Web links

• Don Finlay in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )