John Victor McSorley (born 1941), is a male former athlete who competed for England.

Athletics career

He represented

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 ...

in the hammer, javelin and shot put at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. Eight years later he won

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the javelin at the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland.

Association with Reg Spiers

In 1964, fellow javelin thrower Reg Spiers, air-freighted himself from England to Australia to avoid paying for the flight. John McSorley created the box for his friend and when he did not hear from

Spiers Spiers is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Spiers (1807–1869), English lexicographer *Bob Spiers (1945–2008), British television director *Cyril Spiers (1902–1967), former English professional football ...

, he became worried and contacted the press about the incident. McSorely's wife and son later wrote a book discussing this incident.McSorley, J. & McSorley, M. (2014). ''Out Of The Box: The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler'', Roaring Forties Press: California.

References

1941 births English male hammer throwers Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Living people English male javelin throwers English male shot putters {{England-athletics-bio-stub