Mike McLeod

This article is about the track and field athlete Mike McLeod. For other people, see Michael McLeod .

Mike McLeod (left) in a duel with the New Zealand world-class runner Dick Quax

Mike McLeod (actually Michael James McLeod ; born January 25, 1952 in Dilston , Northumberland ) is a former British long-distance runner .

Internationally, he made an appearance especially in the 10,000 meter run . At the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in 1978 , starting for England , he won the bronze medal behind Brendan Foster and Michael Musyoki over this distance . At the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 he reached twelfth place.

In 1981 and 1982 McLeod won the first two Great North Run events . At the World Cross Country Championships in Rome in 1982 he was fifth on the long distance and won a silver medal with the English team. Before that, he had already won 43rd silver in the team competition in 1977, 30th bronze in 1978 and 14th gold in 1979.

McLeod celebrated the greatest success of his career by winning the silver medal in the 10,000-meter run at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Originally, he had reached the goal in third behind Alberto Cova and Martti Vainio . However, he moved up one rank after Vainio was subsequently disqualified for doping .

In 1988 in Seoul McLeod took part in the Olympic Games again, but could not qualify for the final over 10,000 m.

Mike McLeod is 1.80 m tall and weighed 63 kg at competition times. He started for the Elswick Harriers. His younger brother Tony McLeod was an Olympian in biathlon .

Personal bests

• 1 mile : 3: 56.38 min, August 31, 1979, London
• 2000 m : 5: 07.43 min, August 29, 1983, London
• 3000 m : 7: 48.18 min, July 9, 1978, Gateshead
• 5000 m : 13: 23.26 min, June 24th 1980, Cork
• 10,000 m: 27: 39.76 min, September 4th 1979, Brussels
• 15 km road run : 42:55 min, February 11, 1984, Tampa
• Half marathon : 1:02:39 h, June 18, 1989, South Shields

Web links

• Mike McLeod in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Athlete portrait at The Power of Ten
• Mike McLeod in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )