Jack Braughton
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born22 February 1921
Grimsby, England
Died30 October 2016(2016-10-30) (aged 95)
Sport
SportLong-distance running

Jack Braughton (22 February 1921 – 30 October 2016)[1][2] was a British long-distance runner who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics.[3] He was born in Grimsby.[4][5]

Biography

Braughton was born in February 1921 in Grimsby and attended Grimsby Technical College.[2] He ran for Cleethorpes Harriers and Grimsby Harriers, winning the Eastern-Counties Junior Cross-Country title in 1939.[2] Braughton was in the army in India, where he continued running, with the aim of competing at the Olympics.[2] He joined the Blackheath Harriers,[5] and later won multiple titles in Surrey in the three-mile event.[2]

Braughton worked on a building site,[6] and needed permission to take time off from work to compete at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[7] He had to do so in his own time, and was not paid to take time off from work.[8] Braughton raced in the men's 5000 metres, finishing in eighth place in his heat.[9] As an amateur, he lost half a day's pay, and made his own way to Wembley Stadium using public transport.[10] Once at the stadium, he changed into his running gear, competed in the heat, and went home.[11]

After the Olympics, Braughton carried on with running.[12] In 1955, he finished in sixth place in his first ever marathon.[5] He continued to take part in running until he was 80 years old.[5] At the age of 90, he also did ballroom dancing four days a week.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Notice of Jack Braughton's death
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jack Braughton". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "The Southerner Issue 48 (Sept 2006)" (PDF). The Southerner. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jack Braughton". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jack Braughton, one of Britain's oldest athletics Olympians, dies aged 95". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "The Austerity Games: When the world came together again after VE Day". Team GB. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Olympian Jack Braughton shares his memories of the 1948 games". This Is Local London. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "TAKE SOME HORLICKS AND BRING YOUR OWN TOWEL". The Lady. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "5,000 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  10. ↑ "Olympian Jack Braughton shares his memories of the 1948 games". News Hopper. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "2012 Games a world away from London 1948". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "91-year-old runner remembers 1948 London Olympics". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.