Keith Leroy Connor (born 16 September 1957 in

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

, an Overseas Territory of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) is a male retired athlete who represented Great Britain and England.

Athletics career

Connor migrated with his parents to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

in 1964. He went on to represent Great Britain as an athlete who mainly competed in the triple jump. 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 ...

and won a gold medal in the triple jump event, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

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. Four years later he won the triple jump gold again when he represented

, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. He then won the

1982 European Athletics Championships The 13th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 September to 12 September 1982 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results Compl ...

gold and a bronze medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

in Los Angeles. Connor attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

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in the USA from 1978–80 and later transferred the

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

(SMU) where he competed with distinction in the US national collegiate (NCAA)

Coaching career

He retired from active competition in 1984 due to injury and began an illustrious career as a coach and sports administrator. Connor was appointed head coach at the

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high performance sports training institute located in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides world leading coaching, performance support and daily training ...

in 1990, after spending several years coaching on the American college scene following his retirement from competition. He was credited with helping Australian athletes to win medals at the

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and Sydney Olympics due to his work in revamping the New South Wales Institute of Sport. Following his successes at NSW Institute of Sport, Connor was given the appointed as head coach of

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...

in 2001. The Australian press has described him, admiringly, as a hard-nosed disciplinarian.

Herb Elliott Herbert James Elliott (born 25 February 1938) is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the re ...

, chairman of an Australian Sports Commission review of the sport, said: "There is a view that he has moved the sport forward. He's had to take some very tough action. As a consequence, he's rubbed a few people up the wrong way and some are against him… but he's done an excellent job." In 2006 Keith was turned down for the job of Head Coach to British Athletics Board although he was regarded by most as the best candidate. This was his second rejection by BAB the first being in 1990. Allegations of racism surrounded his rejection.

Personal life

Since the expiration of his contract in 2006 Keith has been a Sport Consultant to national associations, sporting bodies, sponsors and individuals.

International competitions

References

* Marks, Kathy (2001-04-09)
Connor makes big jump in Australia
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-08-25.

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Keith 1957 births Living people British male triple jumpers English male triple jumpers Olympic male triple jumpers Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists UK Athletics Championships winners SMU Mustangs men's track and field athletes UTEP Miners men's track and field athletes English people of Anguillan descent Commonwealth Games competitors for England Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games