Frederick Ferdinand Wolff,

CBE 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 ...

, TD (13 October 1910 – 26 January 1988) was a British

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-develo ...

, winner of gold medal in 4 × 400 m

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German language, German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German language, German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympi ...

Early life

On 13 October 1910, Wolff was born in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British ...

, the eldest son of a family of four children. Wolff was a member of the Kowloon Cricket Club, where he won his first race in 1919. Wolff and his family returned to England. Wolff attended Shirley House Preparatory School and

Beaumont College Beaumont College was between 1861 and 1967 a public school in Old Windsor in Berkshire. Founded and run by the Society of Jesus, it offered a Roman Catholic public school education in rural surroundings, while lying, like the neighbouring Eto ...

in Windsor, England.Freddie Wolff
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-01-23.

Career

Frederick Wolff won the British AAA in in 1933. At the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Wolff ran the opening leg in the British 4 × 400 m relay team, which won the gold medal with a new European record of 3.09.0. In 1929, Wolff joined the family firm Rudolf Wolff & Co. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Wolff served in the

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

and was promoted to the rank of captain. Wolff rejoined Rudolf Wolff & Co. in 1946, and became a partner in 1951. From 1970 to 1977 Wolff became the Committee Chairman of the

London Metal Exchange The London Metal Exchange (LME) is a futures and forwards exchange with the world's largest market in standarised forward contracts, futures contracts and options on base metals. The exchange also offers contracts on ferrous metals and precious ...

helping establishing the LME's international reputation. He was made a

in 1975. Wolff was the chairman of the Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust.

Personal life

Wolff married Natalie Winefred Virginia Byrne, the daughter of Ferdinand and Mary (née Keith) Byrne. Wolff had five children: Jennifer, John, Carolyn, Richard (twin) and Christine (twin). On 26 January 1988, Wolff died in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it mer ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, United Kingdom. He was 77. The British Olympic Association held a reception at the Buckingham Palace for all surviving British Olympic medalists on the day he died. In 2015, Wolff's great-grandson Daniel Wolff competed in the

2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games were a multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabilities held in Los Angeles, United States from July 25 to August 2, 2015, in the tradition of the Special Olympics movement. These Game ...

in Los Angeles. His disability was autism.

References

External links

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Freddy Wolff obituary, American Metal Market 27 January 1988, Managing Director and Chairman of Rudolf Wolff & Co. and Chairman of the LME
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Freddie British male sprinters 1910 births 1988 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Great Britain English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain English male sprinters Hong Kong emigrants to England Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) British expatriates in Hong Kong British Army personnel of World War II Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers