Harold Wilson (athlete)

Harold Wilson, 1908

Harold Allan Wilson (born January 21, 1885 in Horncastle , † 1916 ) was a British middle-distance runner who was active at the beginning of the 20th century. He fell in the First World War .

The only 1.62 m tall and 52 kg heavy athlete started for the Hallamshire Harriers and for the Irish American Athletic Club.

Career

Harold Wilson's greatest achievements date back to 1908.

• At the British Olympic qualifications, he was the first runner on earth to stay under four minutes over 1500 meters. Since world record lists were not yet kept at the time, his time of 3: 59.8 minutes was only of an unofficial character ( Abel Kiviat was the first official 1500-meter world record holder in 3: 55.8 minutes, 1912).
• He won the British national championship in the mile run in 4: 20.2 minutes. This time brought him to number 1 on the world's best list of the year.
• He won two medals at the 1908 London Olympics .
  • He won over 1500 meters in the preliminary run in 4: 11.4 minutes and defeated the famous French Jean Bouin , who was eliminated because only the preliminary winners made it to the final. In the final he improved to 4: 03.6 min, but couldn't get close to the American Mel Sheppard and won the silver medal two tenths behind his compatriot Norman Hallows (bronze in 4: 04.0 min).
  • In the 3-mile team race, Wilson was fifth behind three compatriots (who secured victory for the British team) and the American John Eisele not in the ranking.

After the Games, Wilson went to the United States, where he faced Sheppard several times during the 1909 open air season. In the same year he turned professional.

The following personal bests are given for Harold Wilson:

• 1500 meters: 3: 59.8 min, 1908
• 1 mile: 4: 20.2 min, 1908
• 2 miles: 9: 40.8 min, 1910
• 3 miles: 14: 57.0 min, 1908

Web links

• Harold Wilson in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )