The England Athletics Hall of Fame was launched in 2008 with a panel of experts selecting a list of potential inductees for athletics
fans
Fan commonly refers to:
* Fan (machine), a machine for producing airflow, often used for cooling
** Hand fan, an implement held and waved by hand to move air for cooling
* Fan (person), short for fanatic; an enthusiast or supporter, especially wit ...
and members of the public to vote on. The
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
honours those who have made an outstanding contribution to the sport of
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
in
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 ...
. Each year the public is able to vote on a shortlist of
athlete
An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance.
Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...
s who have been put forward for voting by a panel of experts.
The short list for the public to vote on is drawn up on various criteria, including the following:
*Athletes will be selected for the Hall of Fame shortlist based on their contribution to the sport of athletics as well as performance. (This could be as an athlete,
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
or some other contributor). An example could be the impact of Roger Bannister's sub-
four-minute mile
A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609 m) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is n ...
on
middle-distance running
Middle-distance running events are Track and field#Running, track races longer than Sprint (running), sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be clas ...
or Seb Coe’s work for the sport and
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
.
*Nominated athletes must have been
retired
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
for a minimum of five years.
Chairman of the Hall of Fame panel is
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell, (born 12 September 1973) is a British former sprint athlete. He was the sprint coach at Wasps Rugby Club for the 2015–16 season. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay.
...
. Darren himself won Olympic gold in the 4 × 100 m relay and a silver at 200m. He was also European 100m champion and bronze medallist in the World Championships.
Inductees
2008–2010
;2008
*
Daley Thompson
Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958), better known as Daley Thompson, is a British former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four tim ...
*
Sally Gunnell
Sally Jane Janet Gunnell (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track and field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunn ...
*
Lord Coe
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals ...
*
Steve Ovett
*
David Hemery
David Peter Hemery, (born 18 July 1944) is a British former track and field athlete, best known as the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Early life
Hemery was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but ...
*
Sir Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub- 4-minute mile.
At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres an ...
*
David Holding
David Holding (born 1968) is a British wheelchair athlete. Holding was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the spinal cord, and has been in a wheelchair since childhood. An accountant by training, he competes as an amateur athlete ...
*
David Coleman
David Robert Coleman OBE (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from ...
*
Geoff Dyson
*
Chris Brasher
Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon.
Early life and education
Born in Georgetown, British Guiana, Brasher went t ...
;2009
*
Harold Abrahams
Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''.
Biography
Early life
...
*
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...
*
Steve Backley
Stephen James Backley, OBE (born 12 February 1969) is a retired British track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a ...
*
Steve Cram
Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arr ...
*
Jonathan Edwards
*
Ron Pickering
Ronald James Pickering (4 May 1930 – 13 February 1991) was an athletics coach and BBC sports commentator.
Biography
Pickering was born in Hackney. His father was a sign fixer. He became head boy at West Ham Secondary School (later to become ...
*
Ann Packer
*
Mary Rand
Mary Denise Rand, MBE (née Bignal on 10 February 1940) is an English former track and field athlete. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British female to win an Olympic gold medal in track ...
*
Alf Shrubb
Alfred Shrubb (12 December 1879 – 23 April 1964) known as Alfie Shrubb was an English middle and long-distance runner. During an amateur career lasting from 1899 to 1905 (when he was barred from amateur competition for receiving payment for ru ...
*
Noel Thatcher
Noel Thatcher is a British Paralympic runner who represented the United Kingdom at six Paralympic Games between 1984 and 2004, collecting a total of five gold medals. His two career highlights are winning gold and setting a world record at Bar ...
*
Dorothy Tyler
*
Sydney Wooderson
Sydney Charles Wooderson MBE (30 August 1914 – 21 December 2006), dubbed "The Mighty Atom", was an English athlete whose peak career was in the 1930s and 1940s.
He set the world mile record of 4:06.4 at London’s Motspur Park on 28 August 19 ...
;2010
*
Paula Radcliffe
Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 2008), and 2002 Chicago Maratho ...
*
P.W. ‘JIMMY’ Green
*
John Le Masurier
*
Denis Watts
*
Walter George Walter George may refer to:
* Walter George (athlete) (1858–1943), British runner
* Walter George (cricketer) (1847–1938), English cricketer
* Walter F. George (1878–1957), U.S. Senator and judge from the state of Georgia
* W. L. George
W ...
*
Albert Hill
*
Linford Christie
Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...
*
Brendan Foster
*
Dame Kelly Holmes
2011–2013
;2011
*
Kathy Cook
Kathryn Jane Cook (née Smallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze meda ...
*
Tom Hampson
*
Dorothy Hyman
Dorothy Hyman (born 9 May 1941) is a retired English sprinter. She competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m events, winning three medals. She also won individual 100 m gold and 200 m silver at the 1962 ...
*
Derek Ibbotson
George Derek Ibbotson (17 June 1932 – 23 February 2017) was an English runner who excelled in athletics in the 1950s. His most famous achievement was setting a new world record in the mile in 1957.
Biography
Ibbotson was born in Huddersfi ...
*
Denise Lewis
Denise Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports presenter and former track and field athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was twice Commonwealth Games champion, ...
*
Bruce Longden
*
Ken Matthews
*
Sam Mussabini
Scipio Africanus "Sam" Mussabini (6 August 1867 – 12 March 1927) was an English athletics coach best known for his work with Harold Abrahams. In total, he led athletes to eleven medals over five Olympic Games. However, in an era where amateuri ...
*
Jean Pickering
*
Harold Whitlock
*
Mike Smith
;2012
*
F.A.M Webster
*
Don Finlay
Group Captain Donald Osborne Finlay, DFC, AFC (27 May 1909 – 18 April 1970) was a British athlete and Royal Air Force officer.
Athletics career
A member of Milocarian Athletic Club and Surrey Athletics Club (based in Kingston upon Thames), ...
*
David Moorcroft
David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance 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 ...
*
Chris Chataway
Chris Chataway (born ) is an Australian Anglican priest and musician who has served as Dean of Perth since 1 February 2020. He previously served as Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Cath ...
*
Tessa Sanderson
Theresa Ione Sanderson (born 14 March 1956) is a British former javelin thrower. She appeared in every Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in the javelin throw at the 1984 Olympics. She was the second track and field ...
*
Fred Housden
*
Wilf Paish
Wilfred Henry Charles Paish MBE (29 July 1932 – 29 January 2010) was a British athletics coach.
He helped train athletes such as Olympic champion Tessa Sanderson, Mick Hill and Peter Elliott. Paish was chief coach for South Africa at the ...
*
Fatima Whitbread
Fatima Whitbread (' Vedad; 3 March 1961) is a British retired javelin thrower. She broke the world record with a throw of in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, and became the first British athle ...
*
Marea Hartman
Dame Gladys Marea Hartman (22 June 1920 – 29 August 1994) was a British athletics sports administrator. She was one of the longest-serving and most influential sports administrators in 20th century British athletics.
Marea Hartman is credite ...
*
Douglas Lowe
;2013
*
Sheila Lerwill
Sheila W. Lerwill (born 16 August 1928) is a British athlete who competed mainly in the high jump.
She broke the World record for women's high jump on 7 July 1951 in London with a jump of 1.72 meters, beating the previous record of 1.71 mete ...
*
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, ...
*
Sir Ludwig Guttmann
*
Diane Leather
Diane S Leather Charles (7 January 19335 September 2018) was an English athlete who was the first woman to run a sub-5-minute mile.
Early life
Leather was born in Streetly, Staffordshire. She was one of six children, and the only daughter, ...
*
Jim Peters
*
Jack Holden
*
Mel Watman
Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to:
Biology
* Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL)
* National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL
People
* Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
*
Don Thompson
*
Gordon Pirie
Douglas Alistair Gordon Pirie (10 February 1931 – 7 December 1991) was an English long-distance runner. He competed in the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won a silver medal in the 5000 m in 1956, placing f ...
2014-2016
;2014
*
Bob Matthews
*
Sir Arthur Gold
*
Ron Hill
Ronald Hill MBE (25 September 1938 – 23 May 2021) was a British runner and clothing entrepreneur. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, and laid claim to the marathon world reco ...
*
Muriel Cornell
*
George Gandy
George Sheppard "Dad" Gandy (October 20, 1851Burnett, p. 5. – November 25, 1946Hartzell 2002, p. 70.) was an American business executive and Real-estate developer, developer, best known for constructing the original Gandy Bridge, the first bridg ...
*
Guy Butler
*
Ashia Hansen
*
George Bunner
*
Darren Campbell
Darren Andrew Campbell, (born 12 September 1973) is a British former sprint athlete. He was the sprint coach at Wasps Rugby Club for the 2015–16 season. He competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres, as well as the 4 × 100 metres relay.
...
;2015
*
Joan Allison
*
Peter Coe
Percy Newbold "Peter" Coe (27 September 1919 – 9 August 2008) was a British athletics coach, author, translator and coach of his son Sebastian Coe.
Early life and education
Coe was born Percy Newbold Coe in Stepney, the only child of carpente ...
*
Lillian Board
Lillian Barbara Board, (13 December 1948 – 26 December 1970) was a British athlete. She won the silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and two gold medals at the 1969 European Championships in Athletics in ...
*
Basil Heatley
Benjamin Basil Heatley (25 December 1933 – 3 August 2019) was a British competitive long-distance runner, who was an Olympic marathon silver medallist and former world marathon record-holder. Although he favoured cross country running, he wa ...
*
Peter Elliott
*
McDonald Bailey
Emmanuel McDonald Bailey (8 December 1920 – 4 December 2013) was a British and Trinidadian athlete, who was born in Williamsville, Trinidad and Tobago. Bailey won a bronze medal in the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games. He competed f ...
*
Emil Voigt
*
Danny Crates
Daniel Brian Crates (born 9 February 1973) is a British former athlete, who specialised in 800m Sprint (running), sprinting. He is a former Paralympic world record holder in this event, and won gold medals in a number of international competiti ...
*
Roger Black
Roger Anthony Black MBE (born 31 March 1966) is a retired English athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Ga ...
;2016
*
Kriss Akabusi
Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi , MBE (born 28 November 1958), known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.
His first international successes were with the British 4×400 metres relay team, winning a ...
*
Bud Baldaro
*
Judy Oakes
Judith Miriam Oakes (born 14 February 1958 in Lewisham, Greater London) is a female retired English shot putter, powerlifter, and weightlifter.
Athletics career
Oakes represented Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1988 Summer Olympics ...
*
Peter Radford
Peter Frank Radford (born 20 September 1939) is a former British athlete, who competed at 100 and 200 metres (and 100 and 220 yards), broke world records, and won Olympic medals, despite having been seriously ill as a child due to a hole in his ...
*
Ron Roddan
Ron Roddan (8 May 1931 – 10 February 2023) was a British athletics coach. He was best known for coaching British sprinter Linford Christie, whom he began coaching in 1979. A former Civil Service (United Kingdom), Civil Service laboratory assista ...
*
Joyce Smith
Joyce Esther Smith (née Byatt, born 26 October 1937) is a British former long-distance runner. She broke the world record in the 3000 metres in 1971 and is a three-time medallist at the International/World Cross Country Championships, inclu ...
*Men’s 4x400m Relay Team at the
1991 World Championships in Athletics
The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1. 1517 athletes from 167 countries participa ...
2017-2019
;2017
*
Godfrey Brown
*
Maurice Herriott
Maurice Herriott (born 8 October 1939) is a British track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was born in Great Wyrley, South Staffordshire.
Athletics career
He competed for Great Britain in the 1964 Summe ...
*
Carl Johnson
*
Derek Johnson
*
Arthur Rowe
Arthur Sydney Rowe (1 September 1906 – 5 November 1993) was an English footballer, and later manager, who played as a centre half. He was the first manager to lead Tottenham Hotspur to the First Division Championship title in 1951. He also "i ...
*
Wendy Sly
Wendy Sly MBE (née Smith, born 5 November 1959) is a female British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 3000 metres. She won a silver medal in the event at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She won the 1983 10km World Road Race Champions ...
*
Stuart Storey
Stuart Ellis Storey (born 16 September 1942) is a British sports commentator and former 110m hurdler.
Early life
Storey was born in Louth, Lincolnshire. He grew up in Holbeach, later helping to coach local resident Geoff Capes at Holbeach At ...
*Men’s 4x100m Relay Team at the
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...
;2018
*
Geoff Capes
*
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...
*
Tommy Green
*
Peter Matthews
*
Katharine Merry
Katharine Merry (born 21 September 1974) is an English former sprinter. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was the fastest woman in the world over 400 m in 2001, with her career best of 49.59 seconds. Sh ...
*
Aston Moore
*
John Regis
;2019
*
Willie Applegarth
William Reuben Applegarth (11 May 1890 – 5 December 1958) was a British track and field athlete, and winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Biography
Born in Guisborough, then in the North Riding ...
*
Jenny Archer
*
Robbie Brightwell
Robert Ian Brightwell MBE (27 October 1939 – 6 March 2022) was a British track and field athlete and silver medallist.
*
Paul Dickenson
Derek Paul Dickenson (born 4 December 1949 in North Shields, Northumberland) is an English retired male hammer thrower.
Athletics career
Dickenson represented the United Kingdom at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1976 (Montreal). ...
*
Phillips Idowu
Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu, (born 30 December 1978) is a British athlete who specialises in the triple jump. He is a former World Outdoor and Indoor, European Outdoor and Indoor, and Commonwealth triple jump champion. He was also a silver meda ...
*
Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu , MBE (born 17 May 1984) is a British former track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metres, the event for which she is a former Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion.
The Olympic champion in 2008, and s ...
*
Mark Rowland
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
*
Kelly Sotherton
Kelly Jade Sotherton (born 13 November 1976) is a British former heptathlete, long jumper and relay runner. In the heptathlon she was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and, following the disqualification of two other athletes, a ...
See also
*
England Athletics
England Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in England. It was set up as a limited company in 2005, taking over the role of the Amateur Athletic Association of England. England Athletics is part of UK Athletics, the national ...
*
List of European Athletics Championships medalists (men)
This is the complete list of men's medalists of the European Athletics Championships.
Track 100 metres
200 metres
400 metres
800 metres
1500 metres
5000 metres
10,000 metres
110 metres hurdles
400 metres hurdles
3000 metres ste ...
*
References
{{Reflist
External links
England Athletics Hall of Fame
Athletics in England
Lists of track and field athletes
Sport of athletics awards
Sports halls of fame
Halls of fame in England
British sports trophies and awards
2008 establishments in England
Organizations established in 2008
Awards established in 2008