Francis James "Frank" Clement (born 26 April 1952 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

) is a retired Scottish athlete who competed in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. He was a member of Bellahouston Harriers and a graduate of

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. Clement was an Olympic 1500 m finalist coming fifth at the 1976 Games in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in a time of 3:39.65. He was also fourth in the 1978 Commonwealth Games in

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 ...

. In 1973 Clement achieved success in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

final which he won in a time of 3:40.8, defeating future Olympic bronze medalist

Paul-Heinz Wellmann Paul-Heinz Wellmann (born 31 March 1952, in Haiger) is a former West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. As a teenager he won the silver medal at the 1970 European Junior Championships. He then finished seventh ...

and 1974 European champion

Klaus-Peter Justus Klaus-Peter Justus (born 1 July 1951 in Königsee, Thuringia) is a retired East German middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medals at the 1970 European Junior Championships and the 1974 European Championshi ...

. He also won the 1973

World Student Games In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

(Universiade) 1500m in a time of 3:42.32 defeating the top American runner

Tony Waldrop Tony Waldrop (December 29, 1951 – December 3, 2022) was an American academic administrator, researcher, and athlete. In 2014, he became the third president of the University of South Alabama. Early life Waldrop was born in Columbus, North C ...

. Clement was a UK 1,500 metres and mile record holder in the 1970s and won the

Emsley Carr Mile The Emsley Carr Mile is an annual invitational athletics running event held in the United Kingdom over one mile for men. The race was won in 2022 by the British athlete Matthew Stonier. History The race was inaugurated in 1953 by Sir William C ...

in 1973 and again in 1974. Clement also won the AAA 1,500 metres title in 1972. Clement improved the British record for 1,500 metres in 1974 to 3:37.4. He set British mile records of 3:54.95 in 1975 and 3:54.2 in 1978. Clement recorded his fastest time for 1,500 of 3:35.66 in 1978. His other personal bests included: 800 metres – 1:45.76; 1,000 metres - 2:19.81 (1975); 2,000 metres - 5:02.8 (1978). After retiring from competitive athletics, Clement worked for 26 years for

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

, where he was race director of the Glasgow Women's 10,000m.

References

* Nelson, Cordner and Quercentani, Roberto (1985): The Milers * Phillips, Bob (2000): A History of Athletics at the Commonwealth Games * Watman, Mel (1981): Encyclopedia of Track and Field Athletics
Personal Bests

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Frank 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Glasgow Scottish male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade