Brian Stanford Hewson (4 April 1933 – 13 September 2022) was a middle-distance runner who represented

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 ...

at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. He won the gold medal in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

at the 1958 European Championships. Hewson was one of the first men to run a

four-minute mile A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609 m) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is n ...

, clocking 3:59.8 at the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ...

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on 28 May 1955. As he placed third to László Tábori and

Chris Chataway Chris Chataway (born ) is an Australian Anglican priest and musician who has served as Dean of Perth since 1 February 2020. He previously served as Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Cath ...

, he became the first to run a mile in less than four minutes and not finish in the top two; before that race, only Roger Bannister and

John Landy John Michael Landy OLY (12 April 1930 – 24 February 2022) was an Australian middle-distance runner and state governor. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run and held the world records for the 1500-metre ...

had run a four-minute mile.

Early life and education

Hewson was born in

Croydon, Surrey Croydon is a large town in South London, south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts i ...

. He went to Pollards Hill Junior School, Pollards Hill, London and continued his education at Mitcham Grammar School, Mitcham, London, followed by aged 16 learning every aspect of tailoring at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London.

Athletics career

Early running career

Hewson started running whilst attending Mitcham Grammar School. In 1947 he began to run quarter miles and won the Mitcham Schools Championship. Cecil Dale o
Mitcham Athletics Club
saw this win and as a result awarded Hewson a scholarship to Mitcham A.C.. He was then introduced to Frank Drew one of the club's coaches who then became Hewson's first coach. In his last year as a Youth he ran the 880 in 1:59.4. In his first year as a Junior he won the A.A.A. Junior 880 title in a record time of 1:55.3.

Sub-4-minute mile

Sadly in April 1955 Hewson's coach Frank Drew died. He was then introduced to Austrian coach Franz Stampfl who was already coaching

. At this time Hewson moved up to run the mile. Then on May 28, 1955, at the British Games Meeting in London, he became only the fourth = man in the world to run a

, running 3:59.8 the same time achieved by Chris Chataway in this same race which was won by László Tábori in a time of 3:59.00, but where Hewson was placed third in the race.
Sub-4 Minute Mile Register
chronicles all of the sub 4-minute milers between 1954 - 2002.

1956 Olympics Melbourne Australia

Hewson came second in his heat for the 1500 metres on 29 November in a time of 3:48.0. In the 1500 metres final Hewson was leading in the final straight, only to be then passed by four men. The race was won by Ron Delany in a time of 3:41.2. Hewson came fifth in a time of 3:42.6.

1958

1958 was Hewson's best season, in addition to winning a gold medal in the European Games, he also produced his best times over the half mile and the mile and their metric equivalent times, which when added to his record performances of previous years made him the fastest-ever Englishman over 880 yards, running a personal best in 1958 of 1:47.0, 1000 metres, 1000 yards and 1500 metres running a personal best in 3:41.1, whilst only Derek Johnson had run faster over 800 metres and Roger Bannister and Derek Ibbotson had run faster over the mile.

1958 European Athletic Championships Sweden

Hewson won a Gold Medal in the Men's 1500 metres at The European Championships in Stockholm on 24 August 1958 in a time of 3:41.9.

1960 Olympics Rome Italy

Hewson damaged a calf muscle six weeks before the Rome Olympics and so selectors insisted he run the 800 metres. In his qualifying heat he led for 700 metres before being passed by three runners, meaning that he came fourth and so was eliminated from the 800 metres final.

Career

Having retired from athletics after the Rome Olympics, Hewson continued working at Simpson's of Piccadilly, London as a tailor, before setting up his own tailoring company in the East End of London. Clothing, sport, fashion and retailing were to shape his working career, where he became women's fashion buyer for English Lady and subsequently sportwear and sporting goods buyer for

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

. He then joined the Incentive Group where he was involved in the design and manufacture of corporate uniforms for major UK multi-national companies.

Personal life

Hewson married Roberta E. "Bobby" Bassford in 1957, but the marriage was annulled on the grounds that she had refused to consummate the marriage. He married Alison Blaiklock, a secretary, in 1963; the couple had three children, James, Caroline and Charles. They divorced in 1980 and Hewson was remarried to Marion Stiff and had four stepchildren Tim, Sally, Robert and Penny. Hewson died on 13 September 2022, at the age of 89.

Publications

Autobiography

* Flying Feet. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. 1962.

References

External links

British Olympic Committee

Sporting Heroes Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewson, Brian 1933 births 2022 deaths English male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Great Britain European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic People from Croydon Athletes from London Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games