John Walker (athlete)

John Walker (1982)

Sir John George Walker KNZM , CBE (born January 12, 1952 in Papakura ) is a former New Zealand athlete who was one of the world's best 1,500-meter runners in the 1970s . With a height of 1.83 m, his competition weight was 74 kg.

In 1970 he was New Zealand champion over 800 meters , but could not qualify for the Olympic Games in Munich . At the British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in 1974 , he won bronze in the 800-meter run in 1: 44.92 minutes behind the Kenyans John Kipkurgat and Mike Boit . On February 2, he won silver over 1500 meters in 3: 32.52 minutes behind Filbert Bayi (3: 32.16 minutes) from Tanzania. Bayi set a new world record in that run, but Walker also stayed below Jim Ryun's 1967 world record.

Walker's greatest success was the 1976 Olympic victory in Montréal in 3: 39.17 minutes ahead of Belgian Ivo van Damme in 3: 39.27 minutes and Paul-Heinz Wellmann from the Federal Republic of Germany in 3: 39.33 minutes. Eight years later at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles , Walker finished eighth in the 5,000-meter run in 13: 24.56 minutes . Even if he mastered the distances from 800 to 5000 meters, the 1500 meters or 1 mile were his favorite routes .

At the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, he finished fourth over 800 meters in 1: 46.23 minutes. He won silver over 1500 meters in a pure track race behind the Englishman Steve Cram in 3: 43.11 minutes. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh , Walker finished fifth in the 5000 meter run in 13: 35.34 minutes . In 1990 in his home town of Auckland, at the age of 38, Walker was once again twelfth over 1500 meters in 3: 53.77 minutes.

John Walker became famous above all as a runner of the 1 mile: On August 12, 1975, he ran a world record on this route in Gothenburg with 3: 49.4 minutes and was the first runner to ever stay under 3:50 minutes. He was the first runner to run a mile under four minutes a hundred times during his career. These benefits are spread over the years 1973 to 1990.

In 1996, John Walker announced that he had Parkinson's disease . He was re-elected for the second time as councilor of Auckland in 2013. In 2009 he was raised to the nobility as Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit . He was trained by Arch Jelley who kept him in shape year round. Due to the lack of bus connections in the country, he had run from an early age, but had also played tennis, badminton and rugby.

Top performances

• 800 meters: 1: 44.92 min (1974)
• 1000 meters: 2: 16.57 min (1980)
• 1500 meters: 3: 32.4 min (1975)
• 1 mile: 3: 49.08 min (1982)
• 2000 meters: 4: 51.44 min (1976) (world record)
• 3000 meters: 7: 37.49 min (1982)
• 5000 meters: 13: 19.28 min (1986)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. up March 12, 2017  
2. ↑ Arnd Krüger : Many roads lead to Olympia. The changes in training systems for medium and long distance runners (1850–1997). In: N. Gissel (Hrsg.): Sporting performance in change . Czwalina, Hamburg 1998, pp. 41-56.
3. ↑ http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/papakura-courier/9285546/Familiar-faces-back-on-council on . March 12, 2017
4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. up March 12, 2017  
5. ↑ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/olympics/news/article.cfm?c_id=502&objectid=11667747 on 12. March 2017

literature

• Manfred Holzhausen: world records and world record holder. 1,500m run / 1 mile run . Grevenbroich 1998
• Bob Phillips: Honor of Empire Glory of Sport - The History of Athletics at The Commonwealth Games . Manchester 2000 ISBN 1-903158-09-5