Derek Austin Graham (born 3 September 1941) is a retired distance athlete from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. The first Northern Irish runner to break

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for the mile, he was ranked number 1 in the U.K. and Ireland over 2 miles/3000 m, 3 miles/5000 m and cross country at various periods in the 1960s. He was selected for nine consecutive International cross country races (later to be recognised as the World Cross country), finishing second in 1966 in

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. He competed in the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

for Great Britain, finishing seventh in his initial heat for the 5000m race. He also competed in the 1966 European Championships, and the

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and

1970 Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

. He was the Irish record holder for various distances through this time. At the 1970 Commonwealth Games, Graham picked up a virus which later developed into

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, ultimately ending his athletics career.

Personal bests

References

Derek Graham Interview

1941 births Living people Male middle-distance runners from Northern Ireland Male long-distance runners from Northern Ireland Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games People with chronic fatigue syndrome {{NorthernIreland-athletics-bio-stub