Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers

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Kingston & Poly AC
Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers logo.jpg
Founded1883
GroundKingsmeadow Athletics Stadium
LocationKingston Road, KT1 3PB
Coordinates 51°24′17″N0°17′02″W / 51.40472°N 0.28389°W / 51.40472; -0.28389
Website kingstonandpoly.org

The Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers or Kingston & Poly AC for short is an athletic club based in Kingston upon Thames in England.

Contents

History

The club was founded by philanthropist Quintin Hogg in 1883, and they were known for four years as the Hanover United AC, and were the athletics arm of Quintin Hogg's Regent Street Polytechnic. [1] The Polytechnic Harriers were based at the Chiswick track and their history with racing events predated "the Poly" since they oversaw walking races from London to Brighton as far back as 1897. [2] [3]

The club has long ties to what is now the London Marathon. In 1908 they oversaw the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1908 Olympics, the Game's marathon, and played a large part in the development of the Polytechnic Marathon, which ran from 1909- 1996. [4] [5] [6] [7]

In 1920, Harry Edward became Great Britain's first Black medalist at the Olympic Games. [8]

In 1985 The Polytechnic Harriers merged with The Royal Borough of Kingston AC, a women's club that evolved from Surrey AC, to become the Kingston AC and Polytechnic Harriers (Kingston & Poly). The Polytechnic's Kinnaird and Sward Trophies are still contested annually at Kingston & Poly's home track, which was originally constructed as a cinder track in 1961 [9] and is adjacent to the football stadium at Kingsmeadow. The Polytechnic Marathon is no longer held, having been superseded by the London Marathon. Kingston & Poly's men now compete nationally in the British Athletics League and, at area level, the men and women operate jointly in the Southern Athletics League, although they were relegated to lesser divisions in 2016. [10]

Olympic athletes

Albert Hill Albert Hill 1920b.jpg
Albert Hill
Arthur Wint Arthur Wint 1948.jpg
Arthur Wint

[11]

AthleteClubGamesMedals/Ref
Henry Barrett Polytechnic Harriers1908, 1912
Jack Butler Polytechnic Harriers1908
George Nicol Polytechnic Harriers1908, 1912 Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
James Barrett Polytechnic Harriers1908
Michael Collins Polytechnic Harriers1908
Charlie Davies Polytechnic Harriers1908
Oswald Groenings Polytechnic Harriers1908
George Hawkins Polytechnic Harriers1908
Guy Holdaway Polytechnic Harriers1908
Georg Lind Polytechnic Harriers1908
Henry Murray Polytechnic Harriers1908
Edward Spencer Polytechnic Harriers1908 Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
Jimmy Tremeer Polytechnic Harriers1908 Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
Timothy Carroll Polytechnic Harriers1912, 1920
Willie Applegarth Polytechnic Harriers1912 Gold medal icon (G initial).svg Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
James Barker Polytechnic Harriers1912
Victor d'Arcy Polytechnic Harriers1912 Gold medal icon (G initial).svg
Percy Mann Polytechnic Harriers1912
Douglas McNicol Polytechnic Harriers1912
Clive Taylor Polytechnic Harriers1912
Arthur Treble Polytechnic Harriers1912
Larry Cummins Polytechnic Harriers1920 Silver medal icon (S initial).svg
Harry Edward Polytechnic Harriers1920 Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
Albert Hill Polytechnic Harriers1920 Gold medal icon (G initial).svg Gold medal icon (G initial).svg Silver medal icon (S initial).svg
Eric Robertson Polytechnic Harriers1920
Guy Brockington Polytechnic Harriers1924
Fred Gaby Polytechnic Harriers1924, 1928
John Odde Polytechnic Harriers1924
Richard Ripley Polytechnic Harriers1924 Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
Frederick Chauncy Polytechnic Harriers1928
Cyril Gill Polytechnic Harriers1928 Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
Jack London Polytechnic Harriers1928 Silver medal icon (S initial).svg Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
Arthur Muggridge Polytechnic Harriers1928
Lorna Frampton Polytechnic Harriers1936
Bert Norris Polytechnic Harriers1936
Aubrey Reeve Polytechnic Harriers1936
Stan West Polytechnic Harriers1936
McDonald Bailey Polytechnic Harriers1948, 1952 Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg
Paul Crosfield Polytechnic Harriers1948
Charles Denroche Polytechnic Harriers1948
Rene Howell Polytechnic Harriers1948
Stan Jones Polytechnic Harriers1948
Leslie Laing Polytechnic Harriers1948, 1952 Gold medal icon (G initial).svg
Ron Pavitt Polytechnic Harriers1948, 1952
Martin Pike Polytechnic Harriers1948
Doug Wilson|Polytechnic Harriers1948
Arthur Wint Polytechnic Harriers1948, 1952 Gold medal icon (G initial).svg Gold medal icon (G initial).svg Silver medal icon (S initial).svg Silver medal icon (S initial).svg
Peter Hildreth Polytechnic Harriers1952, 1956, 1960
Brian Shenton Polytechnic Harriers1952, 1956
Jeannette Bailey Polytechnic Harriers1960
Tim Graham Polytechnic Harriers1964
Colin Campbell Polytechnic Harriers1968, 1972, 1976
Alan Pascoe Polytechnic Harriers1968, 1972, 1976

Archives

The Club's archives are still held at the University of Westminster. [12]

References

  1. Kingston Athletics Club & Polytechnic Harriers History of the club 03-07-2007 Archived June 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Bryant, John (17 April 2009). The Marathon Makers. Kings Road Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84358-228-1 . Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  3. Clapson, Mark (1 November 2014). "Global Sport in the Suburbs: The Regent Street Polytechnic's Sports Facilities at Chiswick, 1888–1938". The London Journal. 39 (3): 265–280. doi:10.1179/0305803414Z.00000000052. ISSN   0305-8034. S2CID   144590927.
  4. Polley, Martin (1 July 2009). "From Windsor Castle to White City: The 1908 Olympic Marathon Route" (PDF). The London Journal. 34 (2): 163–178. doi:10.1179/174963209X442441. ISSN   0305-8034. S2CID   162023260.
  5. Hill, Dave (23 April 2016). "London Marathon: 35 years of change in 26.2 miles". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  6. Usborne, Simon (23 October 2011). "Timeline: The marathon". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  7. "Poly History – Harriers Athletic Club – Polytechnic Football Club" . Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  8. Dawkins, Sarah (16 October 2020). "Harry Edward: The Berlin-born POW who became Britain's first black Olympic medallist". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  9. https://kingstonandpoly.org/archive/id28-History%20of%20the%20Club.html Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  10. "Athletics: Kingston & Polytechnic Harriers fall at final British League hurdle". Your Local Guardian. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  11. "Polytechnic Harriers, Westminster (GBR)". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  12. "Polytechnic Harriers Athletic Club - University of Westminster › Records and Archives". westminster-atom.arkivum.net. University of Westminster. Retrieved 2 July 2021.