James Wilson (athlete)

James Wilson, 1920

James Wilson (born October 2, 1891 , † 1973 in Brent , Greater London , Great Britain ) was a British long-distance runner who was successful during and after the First World War . He won two Olympic medals.

He won the Scottish Championship over four miles seven times in a row - from 1914 to 1920 - and in 1920 an additional ten miles. However, he did not take part in British championships once.

At the Cross of Nations (which was canceled between 1915 and 1919 due to the war), Wilson started a total of five times: once for the United Kingdom (1914) and four times for Scotland (1920, 1921, 1924 and 1925). His big hour came in 1920 in Belfast, where he won the gold medal in 55:06 minutes.

At the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920, Wilson started over 10,000 m and cross-country . Over 10,000 m he won his preliminary run in 33: 40.2 minutes, leaving Paavo Nurmi behind. In the final, however, the Finn was unbeatable and won in 31: 45.8 minutes. Wilson also had to let the Frenchman Joseph Guillemot , who finished in 31: 47.2 minutes, go. However, his bronze medal in 31: 50.8 minutes was safe - fourth-placed Augusto Maccario from Italy was over 11 seconds behind. Also in cross the winner was Paavo Nurmi (27: 15.0 min). Wilson needed half a minute longer for the 8 km long course (27: 45.2 min) and reached the finish with a good 12 seconds behind Nurmi's compatriot Heikki Liimatainen in fourth of a total of 47 participants. However, he should not remain without a medal: In the team competition, the British team for which Wilson started came second behind Finland and won silver.

James Wilson was 1.73 m tall and weighed 60 kg. He started for the Slough Harriers and was a mechanical engineer by profession.

Top performances

• 1 mile : 4: 28.0 min, 1915
• 4 miles: 20: 22.4 min, 1920
• 6 miles: 30: 45.0 min, 1920
• 10,000 m: 31: 50.8 min, 1920
• 10 miles: 52: 04.4 min, 1920

Web links

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