Jerry Cornes

Jerry Cornes (actually John Frederic Cornes ; born March 23, 1910 in Darjeeling , India , † June 19, 2001 ) was a British middle-distance runner who was successful in the early 1930s and won three bronze medals in international competitions.

Jerry Cornes started for Oxford University and the Achilles Club. He was 1.82 m tall and weighed 70 kg.

education and profession

The son of an Indian Civil Service judge attended Clifton College and Corpus Christi College , Oxford . In 1932 he joined the Civil Service like his father. His path led him first to Nigeria for five years and then to Palestine for another ten years . From 1947 to 1953 he worked as an instructor for the Colonial Office in Oxford. He then took over the management of the West Downs School in Winchester , where he taught history, Latin and religion until 1988.

Athletic career

Jerry Cornes first appeared as a cross-country runner as a student in Clifton and Oxford . His special route then became the 1 mile . Over this distance he competed in the traditional Oxford- Cambridge university comparison , where he was victorious a total of five times:

• 1930: 1 mile
• 1931: 1 mile and cross-country run
• 1932: 1 mile and 880 yards

He took part in the British national championships four times over the mile. There he won the title after the runner-up in 1930 in 1932 and took part in the finals in 1934 and 1936.

He was also successful on an international level.

• In 1931, during a country comparison between Great Britain and Germany, he set a world record as a member of the 4 x 1,500 meter relay.
• He started twice in the British Empire Games, the forerunner of the Commonwealth Games. In both 1930 in Hamilton and 1934 in London , he took third place. His time was not determined in Hamilton. In London, too, only the victorious New Zealander Jack Lovelock (gold in 4: 12.8 min) was stopped and the times of the placed Sydney Wooderson and Jerry Cornes were estimated at 4: 13.4 min and 4: 13.6 min, respectively, based on the gap .
• He also competed twice at the Olympic Games. In 1932 in Los Angeles he was second in his prelim over 1500 meters in 4: 01.0 min - a time that would not have helped him in the other two heats. In the final, however, he left no doubt about his running class. The clock showed him an excellent 3: 52.6 min, and only Italian Luigi Beccali was faster that day , setting a new Olympic record in 3: 51.2 min. Jerry Cornes won the silver medal just ahead of the Canadian Phil Edwards (bronze in 3: 52.8 min). Four years later he tried his luck again at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin . Also this time he finished his preliminary run in second place (4: 00.6 min). But then followed in the final, the fastest 1,500 meter race of all time. Both the winner John Lovelock (gold in 3: 47.8 min) and second-placed Glenn Cunningham (silver in 3; 48.4 min) stayed below the existing world record, and even the three following runners were even faster than the winner of Los Angeles. In their wake, Jerry Cornes set a new personal best with 3: 51.4 minutes, which brought him to 6th place.

Even after the end of his international career, Jerry Cornes still occasionally competed. In 1949 he was one of the finals of the Southern Counties championship in cross-country running.

family

Jerry Cornes was married to Rachael Addis; the couple celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary in 1997. The marriage resulted in four sons: Nick, Colin, John (all born in Palestine) and Andrew.

Web links

• Jerry Cornes in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )