Andrew Hedges (bobsleigh)
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Andrew Hedges (16 September 1935 – 1 October 2005) was born in
South Moreton South Moreton is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, about east of Didcot, west of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Wallingford, and south of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon. It is only separated by the Great Western Railway cu ...
, Oxfordshire and came from a family of farmers that owned a string of butcher’s shops across the country. He attended
Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...
before being commissioned into the British Army and serving in the Household Cavalry. He briefly relocated to Switzerland and later joined the British bobsleigh team before his selection to the 1964 Olympic team to compete at Innsbruck. There, he competed in the two-man event alongside fellow Radley classmate Bill McCowen and the four-man event alongside McCowen, Robin Seel and Robin Widdows. Hedges later became a noted race car driver in the 1960s, competing at six editions of the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
between 1964 and 1970. His finest achievement as a racing driver was in winning the gruelling 84-hour race, Marathon de la Route, with Belgian co-driver Julien Vernaeve, over the old
Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...
circuit in 1966. Hedges was also an avid powerboat racer and took part in the Cowes-Torquay race. In 1966, he competed in the Miami to Nassau race with his partner, the infamous
Lord Lucan Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared dead 27 October 1999), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer and gambler who vanished in 1974 after being suspected of killing ...
. Their boat “Migrant” was the first single-engine boat to finish. He later moved to
Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
to pursue business interests and remained there until his death in 2005. .


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* 1935 births 2005 deaths British male bobsledders Olympic bobsledders for Great Britain Bobsledders at the 1964 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Oxfordshire English racing drivers British expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain People educated at Radley College 20th-century English sportsmen {{UK-bobsleigh-bio-stub