Paul Craig (runner)

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Paul Craig
Personal information
Born (1953-09-02) 2 September 1953 (age 71)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sport
SportMiddle-distance running
Event1500 metres

Paul Craig (born 2 September 1953) is a Canadian middle-distance runner.

Contents

Described as an "athlete with a promising future" [1] , Craig reached the final at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

Early life

Craig has a twin brother, John, and they are both graduates of the University of Texas at Austin. Craig is married. [2]

Sporting career

At Don Mills Collegiate Institute, Craig was high school senior 1,600 metre champion. In 1971, he competed in a international high school track and field invitational, finishing second with a time of 4 minutes, 13.8 seconds, being beaten by Jim Morrison by only 1.3 seconds. [3]

In December 1975, Craig ran in Gothenburg, Sweden, finishing with a time of 4:02, as he witnessed John Walker set the world record with a time of 3.49.4. [4]

In July 1976, Craig was not picked for the Canadian team's European trip. [1]

Craig competed in the men's 1,500 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics. [5] During the 1976 Olympics, he ran a time of 3:38 in his heat, which made him the Canadian record holder for the 1,500 meters. [2]

In 1979, the twins spent time in California preparing for the 1980 Summer Olympics, however the Canadians later boycotted the event. During 1981, Craig began to suffer from a "mysterious illness" which doctors believed to be a virus. He suffered from a cough for five months after running a 5,000 metre track race in Knoxville, Tennessee, which affected his preparations for the 1984 Summer Olympics. [6] In April 1981, Craig ran in the annual Brooks Shoes Spring Run-off and finished first with a time of 23 minutes 25 seconds, beating last year's time of 24 minutes by teammate Joe Sax. His brother John finished fourth. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 Sokol, Al (30 July 1976). "Canadian tailgates into the semi-final". Toronto Star .
  2. 1 2 Sokol, Al (8 July 1978). "Canadians could have a twin threat in Commonwealth 1,500-metre run". Toronto Star .
  3. Crerar, Jim (12 June 1972). "Paul Craig 2nd in mile at U.S meet". Toronto Star .
  4. "Paul Craig has Vivid Recollections of His Last Encounter Wilth Walker". The Daily Gleaner . 19 July 1976.
  5. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Paul Craig Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  6. Sokol, Al (31 July 1982). "Craig twin seeks 1,500 metre track championship". Toronto Star .
  7. Pottins, Melanie (29 April 1981). "Brooks run a battle right to finish". Etobicoke Guardian .