Kennard Neil Bates (30 May 1928 – 14 July 2003) was a New Zealand middle-distance

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

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 ...

. Hailing from Stratford and representing West Coast North Island, Bates won the New Zealand junior 1 mile title in 1947, recording a time of 4:22.8. In 1949, he progressed to the senior ranks and won the men's 1 mile title at the New Zealand athletics championships, in a time of 4:18.2. The following year, he represented New Zealand at the

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 ...

in the men's 1 mile, where he ran a time of 4:25.8 to finish sixth in his heat and did not progress to the final. Bates died on 14 July 2003, and his ashes were buried at Hillcrest Cemetery, Whakatāne.

References

1928 births 2003 deaths People from Stratford, New Zealand New Zealand male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand New Zealand Athletics Championships winners {{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub