Joshua Murgatroyd Smith (5 October 1877 – 28 February 1954) was a British

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

Biography

As a member of the upper class, he attended University of Cambridge, with ambitions to move to Liverpool. He only spent one year in college before

dropping out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most in ...

and residing right outside the city of Cambridge, where he became interested in running. Smith finished second behind Alfred Shrubb in the 4 miles event at the 1904 AAA Championships. The following year Smith was running for Salford Harriers and became the British 4 miles champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the 1905 AAA Championships. Smith represented

Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed as the host nation of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The British Olympic Association was the National Olympic Committee responsible for organising the United King ...

in London. In the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

, Smith placed fifth in his initial semifinal heat and did not advance to the final.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Josh 1877 births 1954 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain British male long-distance runners British male middle-distance runners Athletes from Bradford Athletes from Yorkshire English male long-distance runners English male middle-distance runners}