John Gilbert Stratton Myles (26 October 1926 – 28 May 2013) was a New Zealand sprinter who represented his country at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

Early life

Born on 26 October 1926, Myles was educated at

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

from 1941 to 1945 where he excelled at sports. He won the intermediate athletics cup in 1942, and the senior athletics cup in the following three years. He was a member of the school's 1st XI

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team from 1943 to 1945, and the 1st XV

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

side in 1944 and 1945. In his final year at Mount Albert Grammar, Myles was

head prefect Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

and a company sergeant major in the school's cadet unit.

Sporting career

Athletics

At the Auckland secondary schools athletic championships in April 1945, Myles won the 100 yards in a time of 10.2 seconds, equalling the New Zealand junior record. He also won the 220 yards in 23.6 seconds and the 440 yards in 52.2 seconds, and was second in the 120 yards hurdles. In 1949, Myles was a member of the New Zealand Universities' athletic team that travelled to Australia. At the

in Auckland, Myles competed in the 440 yards. He finished third in his heat, before placing fifth in his semifinal and not progressing further.

Rugby union

Myles played representative rugby union for

. He later served as president of the University of Waikato Rugby Club from 1973 to 1974.

Working life

After a period working for the

New Zealand Forest Service The New Zealand Forest Service was originally established in 1919 as the State Forest Service. The State Forest Service changed its name to the New Zealand Forest Service in 1949, at about the same time that the Forests Act of 1949 passed through ...

, Myles trained as a teacher at the

and Dunedin Teachers' Colleges. He worked as a physical education area officer before becoming a teacher at Auckland Normal Intermediate. He taught as his old school, Mount Albert Grammar, from 1957 to 1962, and coached the school's 1st XV rugby team. He graduated from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1958 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in geography in 1961. Myles then spent time teaching in Canada, before returning to New Zealand to become head of social studies at

Hamilton Teachers' College , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , cit ...

, where he remained for the rest of his working life. Myles died at Atawhai Assisi Hospital on the outskirts of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

on 28 May 2013.

References

1926 births 2013 deaths People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School New Zealand male sprinters Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Auckland rugby union players University of Auckland alumni New Zealand schoolteachers New Zealand sports executives and administrators Dunedin College of Education alumni New Zealand rugby union players {{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub