Mike McLeod (''Michael James McLeod;'' born 25 January 1952 in Dilston,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

) is a British former athlete who competed mainly in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

Athletics career

McLeod competed for Great Britain in 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 secon ...

held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States in the

where he won the silver medal. McLeod only finished third but second placed Martti Vainio had been disqualified for taking

anabolic steroids Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related and have similar effects t ...

. Race winner

Alberto Cova Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Alber ...

has since admitted to using blood transfusions during his career, and there has been speculation that McLeod could and should therefore be eventually awarded the gold medal. McLeod ran for Elswick Harriers of Newcastle upon Tyne from an early age winning many races on a regional, national and international scale. One of his greatest achievements was being presented with an Olympic silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, the best performance by a British athlete at that time. Twice winner of the Golden 10,000 metre which seems to be now known as the world championships. McLeod won the Morpeth to Newcastle road race on five occasions with 63 minutes and 25 seconds being his best time in 1980. He won the Saltwell Harriers 10k road race 17 years in a row. McLeod also won the first

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Sou ...

and went on to win it again the following year. He competed abroad and won the

Giro al Sas The Giro al Sas, also known as the Giro Podistico di Trento and the Giro Internazionale Città di Trento, is an annual 10-kilometre road running competition for men which takes place in October in the city of Trento, Italy. First held as a part of ...

10K race in Italy in 1984. 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 bronze medal in the 10,000 metres event, at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

Edmonton, Alberta 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 anchor ...

, Canada. Four years later he represented

, once again in the 10,000 metres event, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. A third Commonwealth Games appearance arrived in 1986 when he represented

, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

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.

Personal life

His son, Ryan McLeod, is now a professional runner. Mike is his coach. His brother is Olympian

Tony McLeod Anthony McLeod known as Tony (born 29 April 1959) is a male retired British biathlete. McLeod competed in the 20 km individual event at the 1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Se ...

Business activities

McLeod is owner/director of Abacus Printers, based in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. He is also President of Future Sport NE, a charity supporting young people in sport in the North East of England.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcleod, Mike Living people 1952 births Sportspeople from Northumberland English male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games