Alan Sinclair Paterson (11 June 1928 – 8 May 1999) was a British

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competed in the high jump. He was one of Europe's best high jumpers during the immediate post-World War II period. He was the champion at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

in 1950 and was also silver medallist at the 1946 event. He won a silver medal for Scotland at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

. He was a two-time Olympic finalist in the event, having competed at the

1948 London Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

and the

1952 Helsinki Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

. His personal best of was a British record at the time and he was a three-time champion at the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

Career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

,Alan Paterson
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-10-18. he rose to the top of the national scene by winning the 1946 Amateur Athletic Association junior title in before taking the senior title at the

.BRITISH ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 1945-1959
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-18. He was chosen to represent Great Britain at the

1946 European Athletics Championships The 3rd European Athletics Championships were held from 22 August to 25 August 1946 in the Bislett Stadion in Oslo, Norway. For the first time it was a combined event for men and women, and for the first time a city in Scandinavia hosted the champ ...

in August and claimed the silver medal after a personal best jump of , finishing behind Sweden's Anton Bolinder.European Championships (Men)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-18. This made the 18-year-old Paterson the youngest ever medallist at the championships.Peter Matthews, Ian Buchanan: All-Time Greats of British and Irish Sport, Enfield 1995 Adegboyega Adedoyin was the winner at the national championships in 1947, but Paterson set a British record in Glasgow that year with a clearance of – a mark that ranked him third in the world that season and was the best of his career. Paterson was again beaten by a foreigner at the 1948 AAA championships, this time by Australian John Winter. He contested Winter again at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and the Australian came out on top with the gold medal while Paterson was the home nation's best performer in seventh place with . With eight other jumpers achieving the same height, his placing was decided on count-back – the first time the rule, which takes into account previous missed heights, was used in Olympic competition. He won his second and third AAA national titles in 1949 and 1950. He reached the top of the continental scene at the

1950 European Athletics Championships The 4th European Athletics Championships were held from 23 August to 27 August 1950 in the Heysel Stadium of the Belgian capital Brussels. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results Complete result ...

, going one better than his previous outing to take the gold medal with a clearance of . He prevented runner-up

Arne Åhman Per Arne Åhman (4 February 1925 – 5 July 2022) was a Swedish athlete who won the triple jump event at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an int ...

from extending Sweden's unbeaten run since 1938 and was the first non-Scandinavian to lift the title. That same year he represented his native Scotland at the

. His Olympic rival John Winter was present and victorious, but Paterson's jump of brought him a share of the silver medal alongside Nigeria's Joshua Majekodunmi (his first and only international medal for Scotland).Commonwealth Games (Men)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-18. Paterson emigrated to Canada in 1951 and ceased national competition as a result. His final international appearance came at the

at the age of twenty four. He was no longer competitive among the elite at that event and failed to clear , ending his Olympic career with 24th-place finish. Following retirement from

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

, Paterson remained in Canada and died there at the age of seventy in

Port Credit, Ontario Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road, ...

International competitions

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Alan 1928 births 1999 deaths Scottish male high jumpers European Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Scottish emigrants to Canada Sportspeople from Glasgow Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games

Career

International competitions

See also

References

External links