Herbert Elliott AC MBE

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Biography

Herb Elliott is a former Australian middle-distance runner who began running competitively at the age of eight, and at age 17 met the eccentric and flamboyant running coach Percy Cerutty who he credits much of his success to. The following year he met Cerutty again, and with his parents permission began training at Cerutty's Training Camp at Portsea on Australia’s rugged southern coast, and Elliott's improvement was meteoric setting a new Junior World Record of 4.06 on January 12, 1957, and soon after also the Junior World Record for the 880 in 1.50.8.

In January 1958 he ran his first sub-four-minute mile in 3:59.9, at 20 years old becoming the youngest runner to beat 4:00 minutes. Then in July at The British Empire-Commonwealth Games he won Gold Metals in both the 880 and Mile events. And in that same year on August 6th he also competed in the famous "Dublin Mile" where the first 5 runners across the finish line, all ran sub-four-minute miles for the first time in history...with Elliott setting a new World Record time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds (shattering the former record of Derek Ibbotson by a full 2,7 seconds) and sending the sporting world into shock!!! Then later that month in Gothenburg Sweden set a new World Record for the 1,500-metre race of 3 minutes 36 seconds (eclipsing the record of Stanislav Jungwirth by a full 2.1 seconds).

He took most of 1959 off, running the mile only once under 4 minutes, in order to enroll at Cambridge University and attend to setting up a new home after his marriage to his childhood sweetheart.

In the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he won the Gold Medal in the 1,500 metre race, beating the second runner by 20 yards and setting a new Olympic and World Record of 3 minutes 35.6 seconds, bettering his own world record by almost whole second....and at a time so fast it would've been enough to win Gold in Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.

He retired from competition in 1962 to devote more time to his education and his family. In 1964 was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth, in 1985 inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame, and in 2002 appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC). He also has a port in western Australia, named Herb Elliott Port.

And now in 2020, at the age of 82, is the Chairman of one the world's largest iron ore mining companies, and also chairman of the Global Corporate Challenge health initiative.

Elliott ran the mile in less than 4 minutes 10 times in 1958 and 17 times during his short career, and though many Track & Field athletes have won more Gold Medals than Elliott, and todays World Record times definitely surpass his, but very few athletes have ever totally dominated their sport as Elliott did between 1957 and 1962, winning every one of the 44 Mile and 1,500 metre races he competed in as an adult.

Sources

• Wikipedia:Herb_Elliott

• Wikidata: Item Q472503, en:Wikipedia
• Racingpast.ca and Britannica.com