Sir John Walker KNZM CBE is a former
middle distance runner from New Zealand.
Walker was the first person to run the mile
in under 3:50 and he won the Olympic Games
1500m in Montreal in 1976.
Walker achieved world prominence in 1974
when he ran second to Filbert Bayi in the
1500 meter run at the Commonwealth Games in
Christchurch, New Zealand. In one the
greatest 1500 m races held to that time,
Walker and Bayi both broke the existing
world record, and others in the race
recorded the fourth, fifth, and seventh
fastest performances ever. Additionally,
Walker won the bronze medal in the 800
metres in 1:44.92, his lifetime best for the
distance, and still the second-fastest New
Zealander ever, behind Peter Snell.
Throughout his career as a
world-class miler Walker was coached
by Arch Jelley, a school principal,
and a middle distance runner
himself, whose work with runners has
been typified by meticulous training
programmes on a scientific basis and
effective communications in person.
Walker broke the World Record in the
mile run with a time of 3:49.4
minutes set at Göteborg, Sweden, on
12 August 1975, bettering the
previous time of 3:51.0 set earlier
that year by Filbert Bayi. It was
the first time that the Three
minutes and 50 seconds time had been
broken, and it was a full 10 seconds
faster than Roger Bannister's
historic sub-Four-Minute Mile of
3:59.4 that was run twenty-one years
previous. He was named Athlete of
the Year by Track and Field News the
same year.
Walker's new record lasted until 17
July 1979, when it was lowered by
the Briton Sebastian Coe.
The following year Walker broke the
world record for the 2000 metres,
running 4:51.4 in Oslo, Norway, on
30 June 1976. He smashed the
existing ten-year-old record held by
Michel Jazy by nearly five seconds;
Walker regarded this run as the best
he ever ran.
At the Montreal Olympics in 1976
Walker was a favourite to win the
1500 metres due to the African
boycott of the Games weakening the
field. The 1500 metres final started
at a slow pace going through 800
metres in 2:03. The race would come
down to a fast finish. In a bid to
out-sprint runners that were quicker
over 800 metres, Walker started his
finishing sprint 300 metres from the
finish, fading in the last 20 metres
holding out Ivo Van Damme and
Paul-Heinz Wellmann to win the gold
medal.
