Cyril Vardon "Don" Evans (24 October 1909 – 26 February 1980) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner who represented his country at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Biography

Born in Taihape in 1909, Evans was the son of Grace Emily (née Wood) and John Evans. As a youth, Evans competed in professional athletics meetings in Taihape as there were no amateur meets in that area. At one such competition in March 1929 he won the 440 yards, 880 yards and 1 mile events, and collected a purse of £35, but at a meeting of the council of the

New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. History The organisation was founded in 1887 as the ...

in October 1929 he was reinstated as an amateur. At the 1930 national amateur athletics championships, Evans won both the 880 yards and 1 mile titles, but he was not selected for the New Zealand team to the

1930 British Empire Games The 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what now is known as the Commonwealth Games, and were held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The games were organized by ''Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

in Hamilton, Ontario, as he was deemed ineligible because of his earlier professional status. In February 1931, Evans broke the Australasian 880 yards record at a meet in

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, recording a time of 1:54.8. At the end of that month he won both the 440 yards and 880 yards titles at the national championships. Following negotiations between the New Zealand Amateur Athletics Association and the English Amateur Athletics Association later in 1931, Evans was deemed eligible to compete at the Olympic Games. He was duly selected as a member of the New Zealand team to compete at the 1932 Olympics, where he finished fifth in his

800 m The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

heat and did not progress. Evans won one more national athletics title, the 880 yards in 1935. He died at Whanganui in 1980, and his ashes were buried in Aramoho Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Don 1909 births 1980 deaths People from Taihape New Zealand male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Burials at Aramoho Cemetery