Brian Adams (born 13 March 1949) is a British retired

racewalker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

and coach who competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Walking career

Adams won his first RWA Young Athletes Road Walk Championship in the Junior Men's category in 1969. Some of his career achievements include winning the RWA 50 Kilometres Road Walk Race in 1977 in Milton Keynes and winning the RWA Men's Long Distance Road Walk Championship in 1983, in which he completed 100 kilometres in 10:13:16. While he is best known for 20 kilometres, achieving his personal best of 1:27:46 in 1975, he won the 1984 Leicester RWA 100 miles in 17:39:28, beating long-distance specialists such as John Cannell from the Isle of Man. Adams came second in the RWA Men's 10 Miles Road Walk Championships in the years 1975 in Southwick, 1976 in York, 1978 in London and 1979 in York. Adams was a five-times consecutive British 10,000 metres walking champion after first 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

1975 AAA Championships The 1975 AAA Championships was the 1975 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 1 to 2 August 1975 at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre The Nationa ...

through to and including the

1979 AAA Championships The 1979 AAA Championships sponsored by Nationwide was the 1979 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 13 to 14 July 1979 at the Crystal Palace National S ...

. Adams competed in the men's 20 kilometres walk at the

, coming in 11th place with a time of 1:30:46. At these Olympics, he shared a room with

Paul Nihill Vincent Paul Nihill MBE (5 September 1939 – 15 December 2020) was a British race walker who competed at four Olympic Games. Biography Nihill competed in the 50 km event at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics, and won a silver medal in ...

, who gave him the nickname "Bernie". He represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the 30 kilometres walk event at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where he placed 4th with a time of 2:29:42.

Life after walking

After retiring from competing, Adams became a coach at City of Sheffield AC with a career lasting over 25 years, winning Yorkshire and Humberside Coach of the Year award in 2017. Adams now lives in Sheffield, where he is a trustee of a local Methodist Church and of the South Yorkshire Schools' Athletic Association, where he also serves as the Race Walking Secretary.

Personal life

In 1973, he married Joy Hollins and the couple have two sons together, Nathan and Simeon, and five grandchildren. He trained his son Nathan who went on to win the RWA Young Athletes Road Walk Championships in 1999 and the RWA's Men's 35 Kilometres Road Walk Championships in 2004. Adams is a Christian and is well known for his faith, signing with the phrase "Walk with Jesus" throughout his career.

References

External links

* 1949 births Living people 20th-century English sportsmen Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games British male race walkers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes from Leicester Commonwealth Games athletes for England English sports coaches {{England-racewalk-athletics-bio-stub