Athletics Weekly

So sad to hear of the death of Sydney Wooderson, aged 92. An inspiration to Roger Bannister and Chris Brasher he was twice European Champion and, despite his small stature, a giant of the track in those far off days of cinder tracks and clean athletics. He was robbed of running the final lap with th...

The point I was trying to make was that a minister has suggested that taking recreational drugs is O.K. So, if all the kids do that they will want to move on to other drugs. We need to ban all such substances, recreational or performance enhancing and ban any sportsman for life if they are guilty of...

What sort of message does Caburn's latest stupid remark send to gullible youths? Is he on something himself to suggest that 'recreational drugs' are O.K? It's a short walk from there to other drugs. We will not stop cheating in sport until ALL drugs are outlawed. Or am I just a stupid old man who do...

Katrina Krabbe for looks.

Lillian Board for personality (see my post re her).

I promise this is my last post on the issue. I would like to clarify one or two points I have been arguing. 1. Cinder track. Yes they were all cinders or similar in those days but Iffley Road was a general track, not one used for main events only. 2. Iffley Road is not an enclosed stadium so it is s...

Thanks Sleady, that's a hell of an article by Peter Radford.

Ken Wood claims to have run under 4 minutes in a training session before Rog. I liked Ken Wood as well, like Ibbo something of a character.

It was never my intention to start World War Three when I revived this thread and lauded Roger Bannister's feat. But it seems I've divided the world into Brits v The Rest. Of course we should all be proud of our nation's achievements but not to the extent that we ignore or castigate other nation's a...

Checking a site recently for details of past European Championships results I discovered that in 1946 or thereabouts women were TJing well over 40 metres. Is that a mistake, do you think?

Sorry Daisy, I don't know. Certainly it wasn't during the first 5 years or so of sub4 minutes. At that point my International Athletics Annuals run out. I'm sure there's someone from Jockland who knows, but as I'm first and foremost a Londoner, then English, then British (and never European) I plead...

Now let's not get silly about this. There never has been a man on the moon, the film with Elliot Gould proved that space exploration is all done in the studio in Hollywood or somewhere. And of course the earth is flat, well sort of saucer shaped to stop the water running off. I know this because I l...

No, no, no. Derek Ibbotson was the most charasmistic U.K. athlete. Nuf said!!

My second visit to the old lady was on Saturday June 21st, the AAA Championships being brought forward because of the Helsinki Olympics. Gordon Pirie had taken his second 6mile title on the Friday night in an All Comers' record. On the Saturday the proceedings were disrupted by the arrival of The Qu...

Are there any others alive to remember the old lady of athletics? I first went there on July 15th 1951, second day of the AAA Championships, thanks to the kindness of my cousin's husband. I had been interested in athletics since the 1948 Olympics but had never seen it live. That day was magic. A ful...

In the late 1960s I was fortunate enough to get comp tickets for the White City, courtesy of an international athlete who worked for my firm. The tickets took me into the Athletes' Enclosure (and included a free tea). My most abiding memory of this privilege was of Lillian Board. When she came into ...

I've just found the site and immediately found reference to Roger Bannister's exploits on 6th May 1954. I'm amazed that anyone can dismiss the performance as did Daisy and Peg-Leg. Look at the situation that evening. No one had run better than 4m 01.4, set in 1945. It was a cold, blustery evening. T...