David Segal (athlete)

Last updated

David Segal
Personal information
NationalityBritish (English)
Born20 March 1937
London, England
Height179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
Sport Athletics
EventSprints
Club Thames Valley Harriers
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1960 Rome 4 × 100 m relay
European Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1958 Stockholm 200 metres
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1958 Stockholm 4 × 100 m relay
Representing Flag of England.svg  England
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1958 Cardiff 4 × 110 yd relay

David Hugh Segal (born 20 March 1937) is a British former track and field athlete who competed in the sprints who competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Segal had best times of 9.5 seconds for the 100 yards and 21.0 seconds for the 220 yards. While competing in the United States, he ran a time of 20.4 seconds for the straight 220 yards. At one time, he held the English Native Record for the 220 yards and the 300 yards, running the later in 30.0 seconds. On rare occasions, he ran the 400 meters with his best time of 48.2 seconds.

Segal became the British 220 yards champion after winning the British AAA Championships titles at the 1957 AAA Championships [1] and the 1958 AAA Championships. [2]

In between he represented Great Britain at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, in the 4 × 100 m relay and placed 5th in the final. [3] He was a European 200m silver medalist in 1958.

Segal missed out on the title at the 1959 AAA Championships and 1960 AAA Championships, losing to David Jones. [4] At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he represented Great Britain, in the 4 x 100 metre relay where he won the bronze medal with his teammates Peter Radford, David Jones and Neville Whitehead. [3] In Rome he was in the 200m semi-final but was disqualified for two false starts. While not his favorite distance, he had been ranked as high as 8th in the world in the 200m by Track and Field News.

Following the 1960 Olympics, Segal left the Unite Kingdom for Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, where he continued his track career. He continued to live in the United States since then. In 2008 Segal was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Furman University, where as a competitor in the Southern Conference Championships he won nine individual titles and five relay championships.

At the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel, he won the 200 m race, and took a gold medal in the 1600 m relay. [5] [6]

References

  1. "AA Championship results" . Weekly Dispatch (London). 14 July 1957. Retrieved 27 April 2025 via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  4. "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  5. "GUBNER, HERMAN EXCEL IN ISRAEL; U.S. Stars Set Meet Marks in Shot-Put, Broad Jump". The New York Times.
  6. "Former N.Y.U. Star Wins Pole Vault -- Stieglitz, Damashek, Brandeis, Bocks Score --Miss Katz First in Swim". The New York Times.