Bertie Messitt (28 September 1930 – 18 February 2012) was an Irish long-distance runner. He was educated in Saint Cronan's Boys' National School in Bray. A bus conductor, he won his fourth Irish cross country title in 1961. By the time he had ended his competitive career in 1966, he had recorded 16 Irish records, nine in 1958 alone: 13:44 for three miles, 14:14.8 for 5,000m, 49:33 for 10 miles. He finished 13th in the European Marathon Championships in Belgrade in 1962. His best marathon time, 2:25.39, was set in 1963. He won the Irish marathon championship in 1960, running 2:28:40, qualifying him for the Irish team in the marathon at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

. For 12 miles, Bertie led the Olympic's lead pack at a blistering pace. It included

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Abebe Bikila ''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila ( am, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winnin ...

, running barefoot, who became the world record-breaking winner, Moroccans

Rhadi Ben Abdesselam Rhadi Ben Abdesselam ( ar, راضي بن عبد السلام; 28 February 1929 – 4 October 2000) was a Moroccan long-distance runner. He competed at the 1960 Olympics in the marathon and 10,000 meters events. He also ran in the Internationa ...

, the eventual runner up, and Bakir Benaïssa (8th place), as well as

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Aurèle Vandendriessche Aurèle Vandendriessche (born 4 July 1932) is a retired Belgian marathon runner, who won silver medals at the 1962 and 1966 European Championships. He competed at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics with the best result of seventh place in 1964. Twic ...

, the Soviet Union's Sergei Popov, who lost his world record while finishing fifth, and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

's Arthur Keily, who faded to 25th. Messitt, spent from his gallant effort, dropped out at 20 miles.Messitt's life much more than five-ringed circus
''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

, 25 February 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2017. Abebe Bikila 1960 Olympics

References

Sources

External links

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Légende du Sport Marocain: Feu Abdeslam Radi, 1960 Olympic Marathon on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messitt, Bertie 1930 births 2012 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Irish male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Ireland People from Bray, County Wicklow Sportspeople from County Wicklow