Robert Ian Brightwell MBE (27 October 1939 – 6 March 2022) was a British

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete and silver medallist.Times On Line biography of Robbie Brightwell and Ann Packer

Biography

Brightwell was born in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

(now part of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

), but moved to the UK with his family in 1946 and grew up in Donnington, Telford,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. He was educated at

Trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

Secondary Modern School where he became head boy and set a number of school running records, and he played as goalkeeper in the local Donnington Swifts football team. He gained his athletic training at Shrewsbury Technical College and went on to become a sportsmaster at Tiffin Boys' School in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, England. He was known for his quarter-mile running races, with his first major race taking place during 1961. He broke the British record for 440 yards as well as the European 400 metres record. During the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, he was captain of the men's British Olympic Team. Running the final stage in the men's 4 x 400 metres relay, he passed

Wendell Mottley Wendell Adrian Mottley ORTT (born 2 July 1941) is a Trinidad and Tobago economist, politician and athlete. Mottley served as Senator and member of the House of Representatives with the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament and was Minister of Finance fr ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

to finish second to Henry Carr of the US. In the individual 400 metres he finished fourth. His fiancée at that time was

Ann Packer Ann Elizabeth Packer MBE (born 8 March 1942) is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Early life In 1959 Packer won the English ...

who won a gold medal in the women's 800 metres (run) on the day after the men's individual 400 metres final. After winning a silver medal in the 400 metres Packer had no plans to run in the 800 metres and had a shopping trip planned until Brightwell's disappointing 400 metres. She said she ran it for him and broke the world record in the process. The captaincy of the British Team and his silver medal was the climax of his career. Aged 24 years early in 1964 he announced that he would retire after the Olympic Games. He and Packer were each appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 1965 New Year Honours for services to athletics.United Kingdom list: Brightwell and Packer were married on 19 December 1964 and had three sons: Gary, and two former

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

players Ian and

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. Brightwell went into teaching before moving to lecture at the then Loughborough College and before taking up successive directorships with sports companies Adidas UK and Le Coq Sportif UK. He also ran a fishing tackle business for thirty years. Brightwell lived in

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Topon ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

. He died in March 2022, at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brightwell, Robbie 1939 births 2022 deaths People from Congleton Athletes from Punjab, Pakistan Sportspeople from Rawalpindi English male sprinters British male sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists Alumni of Loughborough University Sportspeople from Cheshire Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Members of the Order of the British Empire English schoolteachers