David Hemery

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Olympic medal record
Men's Athletics
Gold	1968 Mexico City	400m hurdles
Silver	1972 Munich	4x400m relay
Bronze	1972 Munich	400m hurdles

David Peter Hemery (born July 18, 1944) is a former British athlete, winner of 400 metre hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

He was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but his father's work took the family to the United States, where David Hemery attended school, graduating from Boston University in 1969 and won a NCAA championships in 400 m hurdles in 1968.

Hemery's first International title came at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, where he won the 120 yd hurdles in 14.1, a title he retained four years later at 1970 Commonwealth Games (it was by then the 110 m hurdles) which he won with 13.8.

At the Mexico Olympics in 1968, Hemery won the 400 m hurdles in 48.12, a brilliant new world record. His margin of victory was the largest since 1924, beating second-placed Gerhard Hennige from West Germany by almost a second. Hemery's winning performance inspired the British public to vote him BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 1968.

In 1969, Hemery won a silver at the European Championships in 110 m hurdles, but missed the next European Championships in 1971 due the injury. At the 1972 Summer Olympics, Hemery tried to defend his title, but failed, finishing third after John Akii-Bua from Uganda and Ralph Mann from United States. He was also a member of silver winning British 4x400 m relay team.

After his running career, Hemery worked as a coach in United States and Great Britain. In 1969 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. In 1998, he was elected as the first president of UK Athletics. For a period in the 1970s he taught at the famous English sports school Millfield.

Hemery won the first ever British Superstars competition, held in 1973. He again triumphed in 1976.

[edit] Reference

• David Hemery, Another Hurdle, Heinemann, London, 1976. His autobiography.

Olympic champions in men's 400 m hurdles

1900: John Tewksbury | 1904: Harry Hillman | 1906: Charles Bacon | 1908: Frank Loomis | 1912: Morgan Taylor | 1920: David Burghley | 1924: Bob Tisdall | 1928: Glenn Hardin | 1948: Roy Cochran | 1952: Charles Moore | 1956: Rex Cawley | 1960: Glenn Davis | 1964: Glenn Davis | 1968: David Hemery | 1972: John Akii-Bua | 1976 Edwin Moses | 1980 Volker Beck | 1984: Edwin Moses | 1988: André Phillips | 1992: Kevin Young | 1996: Derrick Adkins | 2000: Angelo Taylor | 2004: Felix Sanchez

Post-war British Olympic champions in men's athletics

1956: Chris Brasher (3000 m steeplechase) | 1960: Don Thompson (50 km walk) | 1964: Ken Matthews (20 km walk) | 1964: Lynn Davies (long jump) | 1968: David Hemery (400 m hurdles) 1980: Allan Wells (100 m) | 1980: Steve Ovett (800 m) | 1980 & 1984: Sebastian Coe (1500 m) | 1980 & 1984: Daley Thompson (decathlon) | 1992: Linford Christie (100 m) | 2000: Jonathan Edwards (triple jump) | 2004: Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish & Mark Lewis-Francis (4 x 100 m relay)

Preceded by: Henry Cooper

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1968

Succeeded by: Ann Jones