Peter Ward (athlete)

Peter Hans Dudley Ward (born February 7, 1913 in Berlin , † January 13, 2009 in Cley next the Sea , Norfolk , England) was a British long-distance runner.

Career

Ward was born in Berlin to British parents. After returning to England after the First World War, he attended St. Faith's School and studied at the University of Cambridge .

During his student days, Ward became one of the best long-distance runners in his country. As an AAA champion over three miles in 1936 , he qualified for the British team at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. There he reached the final over 5000 meters and finished 11th with a time of 14: 57.2 minutes. As the only team member with a fluent knowledge of the German language, he acted as an unofficial translator during the games and met Adolf Hitler as who paid a visit to the British team.

The post-Olympic season turned out to be his most successful: he defended his AAA title over three miles, won the 5000-meter race at the International University Games in Paris and won three of the four international competitions of the British Athletics Federation . At the British Empire Games in Sydney in 1938 , he won the silver medal over three miles behind the New Zealander Cecil Matthews , in the race over six miles he got out early.

During World War II , he served with the rank of major in the Royal Artillery . After the end of the war, he returned to sport and was among the extended candidates for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.

After retiring from competitive sports, he successfully founded the laboratory instrument manufacturer Grant Instruments in Cambridge .

Web links

• Peter Ward in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Obituary in Cambridge News , January 23, 2009