John Archer (10 August 1921 – 29 July 1997) was an English athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres. He was born in Nottingham.

Early life

He grew up at 24 North Gate in

New Basford Basford is a northerly suburb of Nottingham, England, incorporated into the city in 1877. It gave its name to Basford Rural District, which existed from 1894 to 1974. The ward population at the 2011 census was 16,207, estimated at 16,779 in 2 ...

. He attended the High Pavement Grammar School. He returned to the High Pavement school on Friday 19 November 1948 for a presentation from the Lord Mayor, for his Olympic success. His county 100m record of 10.6 seconds lasted until August 1996, when Cori Henry ran 10.5 secs in Dudley. He trained as a PE teacher at Loughborough College in 1950. He also played rugby for the Notts, Lincs and Derbys team. He broke his leg playing rugby around late 1946.

Career

He was a bomber pilot in war, becoming a Flt Lt. He taught PE at his old school. For many years he was the principal of St Paul's College of Education in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, later the University of Gloucestershire.

Athletics career

He won the European Athletics championships 1946 Oslo men's

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

with a consistent time of 10.6 seconds through the heats and in the final. He competed for Great Britain in the

Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – men's 4 × 100 metres relay Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

held in London, Great Britain where he won the silver medal with his teammates John Gregory,

Alastair McCorquodale Alastair McCorquodale (5 December 1925 – 27 February 2009) was a British athlete and cricketer. McCorquodale was educated at Harrow where he opened the bowling for the 1st XI in the 1948 Eton v Harrow match at Lord's. He represented Bri ...

and Kenneth Jones. The British team were initially awarded the gold medal after the US team were disqualified for a faulty baton change but, two days later, following a review, they had to hand the gold medals back and were awarded the silver medal in a second ceremony. He represented England and won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the 4×110 yd relay 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 ...

in Auckland, New Zealand.

Personal life

He was married by Canon J Lowndes at C of E

St Leodegarius Church, Basford St Leodegarius Church, Old Basford is a parish church in the Church of England. The church is Grade II* listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as it is a particularly significant building of more than local interest. H ...

to Josephine Dorothy Hateley of 159 Park Road in Loughborough, a former art student of Loughborough College. His sister was Dorothy Cooke of Tring Vale in Sherwood. Josephine and him had son Paul, and daughter Lorna, a doctor.''Nottingham Evening Post'' Friday 1 August 1997, page 15 Archer died in

, Gloucestershire.

References

External links

* 1921 births 1997 deaths Academics of the University of Gloucestershire Academics of physical education and sport Alumni of Loughborough University Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics British male sprinters Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England English male sprinters Heads of universities and colleges in England Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School Sportspeople from Nottingham English Olympic medallists Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub