David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former
middle-distance and
long-distance
Long distance or Long-distance may refer to:
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Footpaths
* Long-distance trail
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runner from England, and former world record holder for
5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as the Chief Executive of
UK Athletics
UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...
from 1997 to 2007. He was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
and promoted to an
Officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
(OBE) in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, in both cases for services to athletics.
Early life
Moorcroft was born to Robert and Mildred (née Hardy) Moorcroft on 10 April 1953 in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
and he has an elder sister Valerie. He was a pupil at
Woodlands Comprehensive School and
Tile Hill College.
[ He studied Physical Education and Sport Science at ]Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...
. He has been a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers
Coventry Godiva Harriers (CGH) is an athletics club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England and was established in 1879. The club name refers to the notable Lady Godiva of Coventry and the sport of "hare and hounds" cross country running.
...
athletics club since 1964 and is currently the club's president.
Running
Moorcroft made his senior debut for Great Britain in 1973 and competed in his first Olympic Games in Montreal 1976, placing seventh in the 1,500-metre final. He won gold in 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 ...
in Edmonton at 1500 metres. Just four weeks later, he won the bronze medal at the same distance in the European Athletics Championships in Prague. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he suffered from stomach problems and was eliminated in the 5,000-metres semifinals.
Moorcroft had a remarkable season in 1982, where he broke the 5,000 m World Record by 5.79 seconds (without the use of pace-making). His time of 13:00.41 set at the Bislett Games
The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League.
History
The first international athletics meeting at Bislet ...
in Oslo stood for three years until broken by Saïd Aouita
Saïd Aouita ( ar, سعيد عويطة; born November 2, 1959) is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He is the only athlete in history to have won a medal in each of the 800 meters and 5000 meters at the Olympic games. He won the 5000 mete ...
(though it remained a British record until 2010). He remains the last non-African to set a 5,000 m world record. In the 1982 running season, he set a personal record in most distances, but probably ran too many races or for some other reason lost his peak shape before the European Athletics Championships in Athens. There he took the bronze medal at 5,000 metres, losing to West Germany's Thomas Wessinghage
Thomas Wessinghage (born 22 February 1952 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former middle- and long-distance runner who won the 1982 European Championships' final over 5000 metres beating the British world-record holder David Moorcro ...
and East Germany's Werner Schildhauer
Werner Schildhauer (born 5 June 1959, in Dessau) is a retired German track and field athlete, who represented the former East Germany at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow in the 10,000 meter run and placed 7th behind his teammate Jö ...
.
The same year, he won gold in the 1982 Commonwealth Games
The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...
in Brisbane over 5,000 m, he broke the European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
and British 3,000 m record with a time of 7:32.79 and he demonstrated his lower end range by recording 1:46.64 for 800 m and 3:49.34 for the mile. His 3,000 m time remained a British record until it was broken by Mo Farah
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...
on 5 June 2016.
He competed in his third and final Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, however, suffering from a groin injury, he placed only 14th in the 5,000 metres. He continued to compete for Britain internationally until the late 1980s.
Following his retirement from top-level competition, he continued running and his time of 4:02.53 over 1 mile in Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
in 1993 was at the time a world masters record for the 40+ age group.
Broadcasting and charity work
Moorcroft covered athletics events for BBC television and radio between 1983 and 1997.
At the same time, he was developing the Coventry Sports Foundation for which he was Chief Executive from 1981 to 1995 (and remains a Trustee). The Foundation now operates three major sports facilities and numerous related projects serving targeted communities in Coventry.
For the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Moorcroft provided track and field analysis for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
. He commentated for Channel 4 at the 2011 World Athletics Championships. During the 2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
he again served as a track and field analyst for Canadian television, this time for the CTV-led Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. In 2016, he performed the same role for CBC/Radio-Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
's coverage of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
Moorcroft is Chair of the parkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
UK Board
UK Athletics
He was appointed as Chief Executive of the British Athletic Federation in 1997 at a time when the finances of athletics in the UK were perilous. Indeed, two weeks later the federation was placed into administration, leading to the creation of a successor body: UK Athletics. He remained Chief Executive until January 2007 – having announced his decision to resign in August 2006.
Under his leadership, the federation rebuilt financially through a combination of sponsorship, broadcasting and public funds. On his departure UK Athletics' turnover was over £18 million per annum. One of his final acts as Chief Executive was helping to secure a £50 million investment from Norwich Union into athletics at all levels up to 2012.
A new television deal was agreed which brought athletics back to the BBC and a series of televised events staged across the UK each year. The IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham and the EAA European Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh were held in 2003, and the rights were secured to stage the 2007 EAA European Indoor Championships in Birmingham, the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh and the 2007 EAA European Cup of Race Walking in Leamington Spa.
A network of new indoor training facilities were developed across the UK and a major refurbishment investment of English tracks took place, funded by the £41 million 'Legacy Fund' granted to athletics by the Government following the cancellation of the 2005 World Championships in London.
On the track, the British team had mixed fortunes. At the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004, five gold medals were won – comparing favourably with a total of two golds in the previous three Games. However, the results in World and European Championships declined. On leaving UK Athletics, he pointed to positive signs with a new generation of athletes who were building towards London 2012.
pointfourone
Moorcroft formed pointfourone sports consultancy with Rob Borthwick (also formerly of UK Athletics). The partnership was formed in summer 2007 and is named after his 5,000 m world record run of 13:00.41.
Join In
In 2012, Moorcroft became Director of Sport for Join In, a UK national multi-sport event to support local sports clubs and organisations in the UK to attract more volunteers.
Personal life
Moorcroft married Linda on 5 July 1975.[ They have two children, Paul and Lucy, and four grandchildren.
]
References
External links
*
pointfourone
iGlobalFitness
Sporting Heroes
Join In Local Sport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorcroft, David
1953 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Coventry
English male middle-distance runners
English male long-distance runners
Olympic athletes of Great Britain
Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
European Athletics Championships medalists
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
Alumni of Loughborough University
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Woodlands Academy, Coventry
Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games