Raymond Christopher Middleton (9 August 1936 – 8 January 2023) was a British

racewalker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

. He represented Great Britain at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

in the

50 kilometres race walk The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in 1932 and made its final Olympic appearance in 2021. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the ...

. He was also a six-time participant at the

IAAF World Race Walking Cup The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is a racewalking event organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It has been held since 1961, and generally on a biennial basis. Women first entered the 1979 edition. ...

between 1961 and 1973. He took silver medals at the 1963 IAAF World Race Walking Cup (behind

István Havasi István Havasi (December 21, 1930 in Dánszentmiklós, Pest – February 16, 2003 in Budapest) was a male race walker from Hungary. He competed for his native country at the 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as ...

) and

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

(behind Ron Wallwork). Born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, he joined

Belgrave Harriers Belgrave Harriers, founded in October 1887, is an athletics club in Britain, with headquarters located in Wimbledon, close to Wimbledon Common. As of February 2013, they had the most successful record in the history of the British Athletics Leag ...

athletics club and began competing internationally for Great Britain in his twenties.Ray Middleton
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 17 April 2016. He competed at the European Athletics Championships on three occasions (1962, 1966, 1969) with his best placing at that competition being fifth (achieved in both 1966 and 1969). Nationally, he had much success at the Race Walking Association championships. He won the 50 km title in 1963 as well as being runner-up in 1965, 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1970. He placed in the top three on five occasions over the 20-mile championship distance. He also was third in the 7-mile race at the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

in 1962. Middleton died of respiratory failure following an infection, on 8 January 2023, at the age of 86.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Raymond 1936 births 2023 deaths Sportspeople from Marylebone Athletes from London British male racewalkers English male racewalkers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games