| Sport | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | New Zealand | |||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Marathon | |||||||||||||
| Club | Christchurch Athletic Club Olympic Harrier Club [1] | |||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||
| National finals | Marathon champion (1948, 1952) | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
Jack Clarke was a New Zealand long-distance athlete who won a bronze medal representing his country in the marathon at the 1950 British Empire Games.
Clarke took up running in 1943, and by 1947 he had won both the Canterbury cross-country championship and the Canterbury three-miles track title in three successive years. [2] In 1945, he finished third in the New Zealand national cross-country championship. [2] In 1948, Clarke won the marathon at the New Zealand athletic championships held in Dunedin, recording 2:44:06, the second-fastest winning time in the championship's history at the time. [3]
Despite not completing the marathon course at the 1950 national championships in Napier, Clarke was one of four runners selected to represent New Zealand in the marathon at the 1950 British Empire Games the following month in Auckland. [1] In that event, Clarke won the bronze medal in a time of 2:39:26, [4] despite having a large dog snapping angrily at his heels at one stage of the race. [5]
In 1952, Clarke won his second national marathon title, in a time of 2:38:42. [6]
Clarke was farm manager for the Roydon Lodge Stud, established by John McKenzie in 1927, at Yaldhurst on the western outskirts of Christchurch. [7] [8] He was also jointly responsible for maintaining the training track. In 2018, it was proposed that a new road in the Yaldhurst Park subdivision be named Jack Clarke Road. [8]
Colonel Arthur Espie Porritt, Baron Porritt, was a New Zealand physician, military surgeon, statesman and athlete. He won a bronze medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics in the 100 m sprint. He served as the 11th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1967 to 1972.
Rodney Phillip Dixon is a former New Zealand middle- to long-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and in 1983 won the New York City Marathon.
Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett was a New Zealand track-and-field athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and to hold the world record in the women's long jump. Williams was named "Athlete of the Century" on the 100th anniversary of Athletics New Zealand, in 1987.
The following lists events that happened during 1950 in New Zealand.
The following lists events that happened during 1957 in New Zealand.
The following lists events that happened during 1960 in New Zealand.
Eliud Kipchoge EGH is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly competed at the 5000 metre distance. He is the world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:01:39, set on 16 September 2018, at the 2018 Berlin Marathon. His run broke the previous world record by 1 minute and 18 seconds. He has been described as "the greatest marathoner of the modern era".
The North Otago Rugby Football Union (NORFU) is a New Zealand rugby union province based in Oamaru and compete in the Heartland Championship. They are one of the strongest teams in The Heartland Championship, winning the Meads Cup section of the competition in its second year, 2007 as well as 2010. Their home ground is Whitestone Contracting Stadium, formerly Centennial Park.
Jean Hurring was a swimmer from New Zealand. She won a bronze medal in the 100 m backstroke at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
William Harold Nelson was a New Zealand long-distance runner who won two medals at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland.
William Michael Amos was a New Zealand swimmer. He won a gold medal at the 1950 British Empire Games, and five New Zealand national swimming titles in the early 1950s.
John Wilson Sutherland was a New Zealand sprinter who won a bronze medal representing his country at the 1950 British Empire Games
Mervyn David Richards was a New Zealand pole vaulter, who represented his country at three British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in 1958. He went on to become a successful coach in both pole vault and gymnastics.
New Zealand sent a 12 sportspeople strong delegation to the 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At these Games, New Zealand won 13 medals at the 1976 Summer Paralympics: 7 golds, 1 silver and 5 bronze medals. Eve Rimmer was the most decorated Paralympian at these Games, winning 5 gold medals in athletics.
Noeline Brokenshire is a former New Zealand sportswoman, who represented her country in field hockey, and as a hurdler at the 1950 British Empire Games. Later she was a gallery owner and noted woodturner, and the founder and publisher of New Zealand's first woodworking magazine, Touch Wood.
John Haines Borland was a New Zealand school teacher, field athlete and athletics official. He represented his country in the high jump at the 1950 British Empire Games, and served as president of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association from 1970 to 1971.
Clarice Lora Betty Main is a former New Zealand diver, who represented her country at the 1950 British Empire Games.
Clifford Simpson is a former New Zealand middle-distance athlete who represented his country at the 1950 British Empire Games. He also played representative rugby union for South Otago.
Neil Thomas Osborne Wilson is a former New Zealand runner who represented his country at the 1950 British Empire Games.
Albert Archibald Jelley is a New Zealand athletics coach who has coached leading New Zealand athletes including John Walker and Hamish Carson. He has been an athletics coach for over six decades and coached at Olympic level up until his mid-90s. Jelley has also been a teacher, an athletics administrator, and a bridge tutor.
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