John McSorley

John McSorley

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	18 September 1941 Staines, England
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	javelin throw
Club	Thames Valley Harriers
Medal record Athletics Representing   England British Empire & Commonwealth Games 1970 Edinburgh javelin

John Victor McSorley (born 18 September 1941), is a male former athlete who competed for England.

Biography

McSorley became the British javelin throw champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1962 AAA Championships in a new national record of 79.25 metres. ^{[1] [2]} He would podium five more times from 1965 to 1972 at the AAAs. ^[3]

He represented England in the hammer, javelin and shot put at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia. ^[4]

Eight years later, he won silver medal in the javelin at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. ^[5]

Association with Reg Spiers

In 1964, fellow javelin thrower Reg Spiers, air-freighted himself from England to Australia to avoid paying for the flight. ^[6] John McSorley created the box for his friend and when he did not hear from Spiers, he became worried and contacted the press about the incident. McSorely's wife and son later wrote a book discussing this incident. ^[7]

References

1. "Tulloch the Triumphant" . Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 15 July 1962. Retrieved 5 May 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
3. "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
4. "1962 Athletes". Team England.
5. "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
6. "The man who posted himself to Australia". BBC World Service. 6 March 2015.
7. McSorley, J. & McSorley, M. (2014). Out Of The Box: The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler, Roaring Forties Press: California. ISBN   978-1-938901-32-4