Robbie Brightwell

Robbie Brightwell ( Robbie Ian Brightwell; born October 27, 1939 in Rawalpindi , then India now Pakistan ) is a former British athlete . With a height of 1.88 m, his competition weight was 81 kg.

Career

At the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958 , Robbie Brightwell was eliminated over 220 yards in the semifinals. One month later, in August, the 1958 European Championships took place in Stockholm . In the 200-meter run , Brightwell finished fifth in 21.9 seconds.

In the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome improved Robbie Brightwell the British record in the 400-meter race twice. In the quarter-finals to 46.2 s (electronically 46.31 s), in the semifinals to 46.1 s (electronically 46.25 s). With his time in the semifinals, he only finished fourth in his semifinals and was not one of the six finalists. The British 4 x 400 meter relay finished fifth in Rome after 3: 08.3 min.

His 400 meter record was improved by Adrian Metcalfe in 1961 . At the European Championships in Belgrade in 1962 , Brightwell won a new record of 45.9 seconds ahead of the West German Manfred Kinder and Hans-Joachim Reske . Metcalfe finished fourth. In the season finale, the team from the Federal Republic of Germany won in 3: 05.8 minutes ahead of the British in 3: 05.9 minutes. The British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1962 took place in Perth at the end of the year. Brightwell finished second behind the Jamaican George Kerr over 440 yards in 46.86 s and Jamaica also won the four-by-440-yard season ahead of the English.

Prior to the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 , Brightwell was one of the favorites on the 400-meter course. In the semifinals he ran the fastest time with 45.79 seconds. In the final, he was able to improve this time (and the British record) to 45.75 seconds and was only fourth in the race won by the American Mike Larrabee ahead of Wendell Mottley from Trinidad. In the relay, the British were by Tim Graham , Adrian Metcalfe and John Cooper in fourth place. Robbie Brightwell overtook both George Kerr and Wendell Mottley as the final runner and secured the British silver after 3: 01.6 minutes behind the world record relay from the USA, ahead of Trinidad, Jamaica and the Federal Republic.

In 1965 Robbie Brightwell was awarded the MBE .

family

In Tokyo, his fiancée Ann Packer was even more successful than him with silver over 400 meters and gold over 800 meters. After the Olympics, the two married. The eldest son Gary (born October 6, 1965) achieved a 400 meter time of 47.90 s in 1984. The two younger sons Ian (born April 9, 1968) and David (born January 7, 1971) became football professionals at Manchester City .

literature

• Peter Matthews, Ian Buchanan : The All-Time Greats of British and Irish Sport. Guinness, Enfield 1995, ISBN 0-85112-678-2 .
• Ekkehard zur Megede : The Modern Olympic Century 1896–1996. Track and Field Athletics. German Society for Athletics Documentation eV, Neuss 1999.