Jack Holden (athlete)

Medal record
Men’s athletics
Competitor for the  United Kingdom
Commonwealth Games
Gold 1950 Auckland Marathon
European Championships
Gold 1950 Brussels Marathon
International Cross Country Championships
Silver 1932 Brussels Cross Country
Gold 1933 Caerlon Cross Country
Gold 1934 Ayr Cross Country
Gold 1935 Paris Cross Country
Silver 1936 Blackpool Cross Country
Gold 1939 Cardiff Cross Country

John ("Jack") Thomas Holden (March 13, 1907 – March 7, 2004) was a long-distance runner from England, who won four consecutive national titles in the men's marathon (1947 to 1950). He represented Great Britain at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he did not finish. He won the 1950 Commonwealth Games marathon in Auckland, despite being bitten by a dog.

He was also a successful cross country runner, becoming the first man to win the International Cross Country Championships four times, which he did between 1933 and 1939.[1]

During the 1950s, Coseley Urban District Council named a new road on the Woodcross housing estate Jack Holden Avenue in honour of this local sporting legend. On 23 July 1952, Jack Holden's Gardens were opened on Queens Road, Tipton.[2]

Holden died in March 2004, six days before what would have been his 97th birthday.[3]

References

  1. ^ International Cross Country Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
  2. ^ [www.tiptoncivicsociety.co.uk/brief-history-of-tipton.php]
  3. ^ Marathon and Cross Country legend Jack Holden passes away. IAAF (2004-03-10). Retrieved on 2011-01-27.

External links
  • 1947: Eero Riikonen (FIN)
  • 1949: Jack Holden (ENG)
  • 1951: Veikko Karvonen (FIN)
  • 1953: Jim Peters (ENG)
  • 1955: Reinaldo Gorno (ARG)
  • 1957: Piet Bleeker (NED)
  • 1959: Pavel Kantorek (TCH)
  • 1961: Peter Wilkinson (GBR)
  • 1963: Václav Chudomel (TCH)
  • 1965: Aurèle Vandendriessche (BEL)
  • 1967: Yoshiro Mifune (JPN)
  • 1969: Kazuo Matsubara (JPN)
  • 1971: Bernie Allen (ENG)
  • 1973 – 1975: Ron Hill (ENG)
  • 1977: Brian Maxwell (CAN)
  • 1979: Kirk Pfeffer (USA)
  • 1981: Cor Vriend (NED)
  • 1983: Kevin Forster (GBR)
  • 1985: Zoltan Köszegi (HUN)
  • 1987 – 1989: Marti ten Kate (NED)
  • 1991: Sergey Prorokov (URS)
  • 1992: Willie Mtolo (RSA)
  • 1993: Jan Tau (RSA)
  • 1994: Piotr Poblocki (POL)
  • 1995: Viktor Goural (UKR)
  • 1996: John Mandu (KEN)
  • 1997: Dmitriy Kapitonov (RUS)
  • 1998: Hussein Ahmed Salah (DJI)
  • 1999: Anatoli Zerouk (UKR)
  • 2000: Cancelled
  • 2001: El Mustapha Riad (MAR)
  • 2002: Raymond Kipkoech (KEN)
  • 2003: Wilson Kibet (KEN)
  • 2004: Girma Tolla (ETH)
  • 2005: John Kelai (KEN)
  • 2006: Sammy Rotich (KEN)
  • 2007: Thomson Cherogony (KEN)
  • 2008: Silas Toek (KEN)
  • 2009: Jacob Kipchumba Yator (KEN)
  • 2010: John Kelai (KEN)
  • 2011: Stephen Kiprotich (UGA)