John Llewellyn Davies (25 May 1938 – 21 July 2003) was a New Zealand

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bronze medallist and president of the

New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...

(NZOC).John Davies
. sports-reference.com

Biography

Davies was born in

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, England, to

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parents, and in 1953 moved to New Zealand with his family. The family settled in

Tokoroa Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the ...

. He won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, and a silver medal in the one mile event at the

1962 Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. T ...

in Perth. Davies retired due to long-term injuries, and after that coached middle- and long-distance athletes, including 1976 Olympic 5000 m silver medallist

Dick Quax Theodorus Jacobus Leonardus "Dick" Quax (1 January 1948 – 28 May 2018) was a Dutch-born New Zealand runner, one-time world record holder in the 5000 metres, and local-body politician. Quax stood for Parliament for the ACT Party in 1999 and ...

, 1982 Commonwealth Games 3000m Gold Medalist Anne Audain who also broke the World 5000m record the same year. 1992 Olympic Marathon bronze medallist Lorraine Moller and 1996 Olympic 800 m finalist

Toni Hodgkinson Toni Louise Hodgkinson (born 12 December 1971) is a former New Zealand middle distance runner, originally from Tākaka. She currently holds the New Zealand woman's record in the 800 m. As a student at Golden Bay High School, Hodgkinson set man ...

. He also contributed to sport as administrator and television commentator. In the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours, Davies was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

, for services to athletics. In October 2000, Davies succeeded Sir

David Beattie Sir David Stuart Beattie, (29 February 1924 – 4 February 2001) was an Australian-born New Zealand judge who served as the 14th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 1980 to 1985. During the 1984 constitutional crisis, Beattie was nearly fo ...

to become the NZOC president. In 2003 he was awarded the

Leonard Cuff Leonard Albert Cuff (28 March 1866 – 9 October 1954) was a sportsman and sports administrator from New Zealand. Born in Christchurch, Cuff was an all-round sportsman who excelled at both athletics and cricket, his most significant sporting ass ...

medal by the International Olympic Academy for promoting

olympism Olympism refers to the philosophy of the Olympic games. The fundamental principles of Olympism are outlined in the Olympic Charter. From a pro-Olympism viewpoint, Olympism seeks to create a way of life by blending sport with culture, education ...

, only weeks before he died of melanoma.

References

External links

Page with Photo at ''Sporting Heroes''New Zealand Olympic Committee announcement of his deathNew Zealand Herald report on his death
* https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/iobituaryi-john-davies/Z2HKIB7MS6KU6ILXJUUADMK6OU/ * https://www.olympic.org.nz/athletes/john-davies/ * https://athletics.org.nz/legends/john-davies-mbe/ * https://nzhistory.govt.nz/peter-snell-completes-the-800-1500-m-double-in-tokyo 1938 births 2003 deaths New Zealand male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games New Zealand referees and umpires New Zealand athletics coaches Athletes from London Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Welsh emigrants to New Zealand Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) {{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub