William John Hartley (born 27 June 1950) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former athlete.

Athletics career

Hartley was raised in

Lydiate Lydiate is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on Merseyside, England but Historic counties of England, historically in Lancashire. It is located north of Maghull, with which it has a commo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

(now

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

) on the outskirts of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

where his family ran a

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or s ...

. He began his athletic career at age 13 as a

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. By age 18 he held the Under-19 record for 400m hurdles (52.9 seconds). Following success in national and international competition, Hartley won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

representing

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand and then a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the 400m relay. He also represented

in the 400 metres hurdles event, at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was a member of the winning Europa Cup 4 × 400 m relay team, along with

Alan Pascoe Alan Peter Pascoe (born 11 October 1947) is a British former athlete who gained success in hurdles. After his athletics career, he has been successful in events marketing and consulting. Early life and education Pascoe was born in Portsmouth, ...

, David Jenkins and

Jim Aukett Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

. An

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

problem ended his running career in 1982, after which he became a sprint coach and conditioner for Widnes Rugby League Club and then Wigan Rugby League Club.

Personal life

In 1977 Hartley married fellow athlete

Donna Hartley Donna Hartley-Wass MBE, born Donna-Marie Louise Murray and formerly known as Donna Hartley (1 May 1955 – 7 June 2013), was a British athlete. Career Hartley was born in Southampton, England in 1955. She was a south of England sprint cha ...

. The marriage later ended in divorce. Hartley now runs the family

floriculture Floriculture, or flower farming, is a branch of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. The development of new varieties by plant breeding is ...

business in Lydiate. His son

Tom Hartley (cricketer) Tom William Hartley (born 3 May 1999) is an English cricketer who plays for Lancashire and the England national team. In 2024, on his Test Cricket debut against India he took 9 wickets. Domestic career He made his first-class debut on 1 Aug ...

plays for

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play ...

References

Nursery

gbrathletics

External links

* * 1950 births Living people People from Lydiate British male sprinters English male sprinters English athletics coaches Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Sportspeople from Liverpool Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub