Allan Cleave Evan Lawrence (9 July 1930 – 15 May 2017) was an Australian long-distance runner. He won a bronze medal for Australia in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

. Lawrence was born in the Sydney suburb of Punchbowl. He competed for Australia in the

held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the 10,000 metres where he won the bronze medal, clocking 28:53 (nearly 30 seconds faster than he had ever run before). He also qualified for the 5,000 metre final, but did not compete due to a strained leg muscle. Two years later, he came to the University of Houston to run for the Cougars. In 1959–60, he captured consecutive NCAA cross-country titles and followed each with an AAU XC win. In 1960, he set a world indoor two-mile record with 8:46. Six days later, he won the AAU three-mile with another world record of 13:26. He was the only male runner to win both the NCAA and AAU Cross Country individual championship in the same year until 1992 (Bob Kennedy). At the 1960 Olympic games in Rome, he placed fourth in the 5,000 metre heats, did not finish the 10,000 metres and placed a disappointing 54th in the marathon in 2:37. During his career, he broke over 10 Australian records from 2 miles to 10,000m and was the first Australian to break 14 minutes for 5000m and 30 and 29 minutes for 10,000m. Lawrence returned to America where he became an American citizen in the early 1980s. He formed the Al Lawrence Running Club in Houston, which remains strong today. He co-authored 3 books with Mark Scheid, "The Self-Coached Runner", "The Self-Coached Runner II", "Running and Racing after 35" and an Autobiography "To Olympus and Beyond" (A Story of Life, Sport, and Love on Four Continents)

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* * * 1930 births 2017 deaths Australian male long-distance runners Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Houston Cougars men's track and field athletes Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Australian emigrants to the United States Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales {{Australia-Olympic-medalist-stub