Roland Hardy (11 June 1926 – 14 June 2016)Roland Hardy's obituary
/ref> 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 ...

who competed in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

and in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

. He was born in

Sheepbridge Old Whittington is a village in the Borough of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. Old Whittington is north of Chesterfield and south-east of Sheffield. The population of the Old Whittington ward at the 2011 Census was 4,181. The village li ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. Hardy was a five-time national champion in the 7 miles walk and a two-time national champion in the 2 miles walk.

Biography

Hardy was born in

, in June 1926. At school, Hardy took part in both cricket and football. In the latter, he was noticed by

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

's manager

Teddy Davison John Edward Davison (2 September 1887 – 1 February 1971) was an English footballer and manager who had a long and successful association with the football clubs of Sheffield, playing for Sheffield Wednesday for 18 years and later managing Shef ...

, who signed him to play for the side. However, Hardy's

National service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

stopped him from taking up a career in football. In April 1949, Hardy began to take up race walking, where he joined the

Sheffield United Harriers The Sheffield United Harriers athletics club were formed in 1894 in Sheffield, England. The first meeting of the club was reported in the ''Sporting Chronicle'' 22 May 1894. "The first evening meeting of this newly formed club took place yester ...

. Later that year, Hardy won the 1949

Sheffield Star Walk The Sheffield Star Walk was an amateur walking race organised by the ''Sheffield Star'' newspaper and held in Sheffield, England. The event, open to amateur walkers, was run annually from 1922 until 2000 over a distance of . It attracted up to 2 ...

, breaking the course record by 53 seconds. In August 1951, Hardy set a new world record in the 5-mile walk, beating the previous time by nine seconds, and then broke the British 7-mile record one year later. With this form, Hardy was selected to represent Great Britain at the Olympics. Hardy competed at two Olympic Games. At the

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Hardy took part in the men's 10 kilometres walk, but was disqualified in his heat. Four years later, at the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, he finished in eighth place in the men's 20 kilometres walk. He died in June 2016, in

Chesterfield, Derbyshire Chesterfield is a market town and unparished area in the Borough of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, north of Derby and south of Sheffield at the confluence of the River Rother and River Hipper. In 2011 the built-up-area subdivision had a p ...

, at the age of 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Roland 1926 births 2016 deaths Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics British male racewalkers English male racewalkers People from the Borough of Chesterfield Sportspeople from Derbyshire