Jack Lovelock

Jack Lovelock Nationality: New Zealand Distance(s): 1500m, mile Date of birth: 5 January 1910(1910-01-05) Place of birth: Crushington, New Zealand Date of death: 28 December 1949 (1949-12-28) (age 59) (age 39) Place of death: New York

Medal record Competitor for  New Zealand Men's Athletics Olympic Games Gold 1936 Berlin 1500 metres British Empire Games Gold 1934 London 1 mile

John "Jack" Edward Lovelock (5 January 1910 – 28 December 1949) was a New Zealand athlete, and the 1936 Olympic champion in the 1500 metres.

Born in the town of Crushington (near Reefton) as the son of English immigrants, Lovelock showed a talent for sports while at Timaru Boys' High School. He studied medicine at the University of Otago, while competing for the university team in the New Zealand 1-mile (1.6 km) championships. In 1931 he became a Rhodes Scholar at Exeter College, Oxford. He graduated as a medical practitioner.

In 1932 - by then holder of the British Empire record for the mile - Lovelock competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and placed 7th in the final of the 1500 metres event.

The following year, he set a new world record of 4:07.6 in the mile, and in 1934 he won the gold medal in the mile at the British Empire Games. He also lost some races, and believed that he could only make one supreme effort in a season.

The highlight of Lovelock's career came in 1936, when he won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the Berlin Olympics, setting a new world record in the final (3:47.8). In that race, he beat Glenn Cunningham, who came in second. Glenn, who also broke the world record in the race, was considered by many to be the greatest American miler of all time.

Later life

In WWII he was in the R.A.M.C. He married Cynthia James in 1945; they had two daughters. In 1946 was appointed to the staff of Manhattan Hospital, New York. In 1949 he fell under a New York Subway train, probably as a result of one of the attacks of dizziness he was subject to. He had telephoned his wife from work that day to inform her he was coming home early because he wasn't feeling well. He was waiting at the Church Avenue station, collapsed in front of a train, and was instantly killed.

Posthumous Commemorations

In 1990 the New Zealand post office issued a set of stamps featuring Lovelock along with George Nepia.^[1]

Bibliography

• The Legend of Lovelock by Norman Harris, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, New Zealand, 1964
• Lovelock: New Zealand's Olympic gold miler by Christopher Tobin, Dunedin, 1984
• Jack Lovelock - Athlete & Doctor by Dr Graeme Woodfield, Wellington, 2007
• As If Running on Air: The Journals of Jack Lovelock edited by David Colquhoun, Wellington 2008

References

External links

• sports-reference.com
• Extensive biography from the Dictionary of New Zealand
• Biography from 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
• Biography at New Zealand Olympic Committee
• Jack Lovelock Athlete & Doctor Latest Biography
• Jack Lovelock, photo after Mile of the Century in 1935
• As If Running on Air: The Journals of Jack Lovelock

Records
Preceded by Bill Bonthron	Men's 1,500m World Record Holder August 6, 1936 – August 10, 1941	Succeeded by Gunder Hägg
Preceded by Jules Ladoumègue	Men's Mile World Record Holder July 15, 1933 – June 16, 1934	Succeeded by Glenn Cunningham