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Jim Peters (athlete)

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Jim Peters
Peters famously fails to finish the Commonwealth Games marathon in 1954
Attribution:Province newspaper
Personal information
NationalityBritish (English)
Born(1918-10-24)24 October 1918
Hackney, London, England
Died9 January 1999(1999-01-09) (aged 80)
Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, England
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event
Marathon
ClubEssex Beagles AC
Medal record
Athletics
Representing  England
British Empire & Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place1954 Vancouver6 miles

James Henry Peters (24 October 1918 – 9 January 1999) was a long-distance runner from England. He broke the world record for the men's marathon four times during the 1950s. He was the first runner to complete a marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes – an achievement which was equated to the breaking of the four-minute mile.[citation needed]

Biography

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Peters became the British 6 miles champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1946 AAA Championships.[1][2] The following year Peters became the British 10 miles champion at the 1947 AAA Championships.[3]

Peters stepped up in distance and began to race marathons, which brought significant success. He won both the 1951[4] and 1952 AAA marathon titles in Birmingham and London respectively and at the latter broke the world record by recording 2:20:42.2.[5]

In 1953 at the Polytechnic Marathon, a point-to-point race from Windsor to Chiswick, West London, Peters broke the world record again and later the same year, he was the first runner to complete a marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes, clocking on an out-and-back course at the Enschede Marathon in the Netherlands. He also won his third consecutive AAA marathon title in 1953.[3]

On 26 June 1954, Peters won his fourth AAA title, which was also his fourth world record, setting a time of 2:17:39.4.[3] Then in July he represented the England team[6] at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver.[7] On 31 July, Peters won a bronze medal in the 6 miles event before taking on the marathon just 7 days later and despite previously carrying a foot injury.[8]

In the Commonwealth Games marathon Peters reached the stadium in first place, believed to be 17 minutes ahead of the next runner and 10 minutes ahead of the Games record[9] but he collapsed seven times (one of the times laying down for over 2 minutes) and he eventually failed to finish, being disqualified after collapsing into the arms of an official.[10] After covering just 200 metres in 11 minutes, he was stretchered away and never raced again. "I was lucky not to have died that day", he later said.[11]

His games kit, including plimsolls and the special medal which following the games the Duke of Edinburgh sent to Jim inscribed "To a most gallant marathon runner." were given to the Sports Hall of Fame, Vancouver, in 1967 for exhibition.[citation needed]

He served as president of the then recently formed Road Runners Club from 1955–1956. After retiring from competitive athletics, Peters worked as an optician in Mitcham, Surrey, and Chadwell Heath, Essex.[citation needed]

Achievements

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YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  United Kingdom
1948 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 8th 10,000 metres 31:16.0
1952 Polytechnic Marathon Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom 1st Marathon 2:20:42.2 WR
1952 Olympic Games Helsinki, Finland — Marathon DNF
1953 Polytechnic Marathon Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom 1st Marathon 2:18:40.2 WR
1953 Enschede Marathon Enschede, Netherlands 1st Marathon 2:19:22
1954 Polytechnic Marathon Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom 1st Marathon 2:17:39.4 WR

References

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  1. ↑ "Swede first to win AAA title". Daily Herald. 20 July 1946. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ↑ "AAA results". Daily News (London). 22 July 1946. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. 1 2 3 "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  4. ↑ "Athletics". Sunday Express. 29 July 1951. Retrieved 18 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  6. ↑ "England pick strong team for Empire Games". Halifax Evening Courier. 22 June 1954. Retrieved 18 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Vancouver 1954 Team". Team England. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  8. ↑ "Driver wins six miles race". Sunday Mirror. 1 August 1954. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ "Dramatic end to marathon". Weekly Dispatch (London). 8 August 1954. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "Peters Ahead, falls 7 times, is disqualified". Weekly Dispatch (London). 8 August 1954. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ Keating, Frank (7 January 2007). "'Two steps forward, three to the side. Oh, he's down again'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
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