Guy Montagu Butler (25 August 1899 – 22 February 1981) was a British sprinter, winner of the gold medal in the 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 1920 Summer Olympics. With four Olympic medals Guy Butler shares the British record for the number of medals in athletics with Sebastian Coe, Christine Ohuruogu, and

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 ...

Biography

Butler was born in Harrow,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, to Edward Montagu Butler and Gertrude Mary Fair. He was the grandson of academic

Henry Montagu Butler Henry Montagu Butler (2 July 1833 – 14 January 1918) was an English academic and clergyman, who served as headmaster of Harrow School (1860–85), Dean of Gloucester (1885–86) and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge (1886–1918). Early ...

and nephew of Sir

James Ramsay Montagu Butler Sir James Ramsay Montagu Butler, (20 July 1889 – 1 March 1975) was a British politician and academic. He was a member of parliament for Cambridge University from 1922 to 1923. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Ca ...

and Sir

Nevile Butler Sir Nevile Montagu Butler (1893–1973) was a British diplomat. Butler was born in 1893 to Henry Montagu Butler and Agnata Frances Ramsay. He was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1923 he married Oonah Rose McNeile. ...

. He attended the prestigious Harrow School, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. His father also attended Harrow and competed in cricket and athletics at the national level. At the Antwerp Olympics in 1920, Butler won the silver medal in the individual 400 m and anchored the British 4 × 400 m relay team to a gold medal in 3:22.2. At the 1924 Summer Olympics, he won bronze in the 400 m and again anchored the British 4 × 400 m relay team, this time winning bronze in 3:17.4. In 1928 he became the first British track and field athlete to compete in three Olympics; he reached a 200 m quarterfinal, and retired shortly thereafter. Butler won the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

in in 1919 and in in 1926. He also ran the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of 30.6 in 1926. In retirement, Butler was a schoolmaster, then an athletics journalist, and a pioneer of filming athletes in action. He contributed to the design of the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ...

and worked as the athletics correspondent for ''

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

'' until it was merged with ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' in 1937.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Guy 1899 births 1981 deaths People from Harrow, London People from St Neots British male sprinters English male sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Guy