Brian Stanford Hewson (4 April 1933 – 13 September 2022) was a middle-distance runner who represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. He won the gold medal 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 ...

at the 1958 European Championships. Hewson was one of the first men to run a four-minute mile, clocking 3:59.8 at the

White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 28 May 1955. As he placed third to

László Tábori László Tábori (July 6, 1931 – May 23, 2018) was a Hungarian middle- and long-distance runner, best known for equalling the 1500 metres world record and placing 4th in that event at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Biography Early career and ...

and Chris Chataway, he became the first to run a mile in less than four minutes and not finish in the top two; before that race, only

Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub- 4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres and ...

and

John Landy John Michael Landy (12 April 1930 – 24 February 2022) was an Australian middle-distance runner and state governor. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run and held the world records for the 1500-metre run ...

had run a four-minute mile.

Early life and education

Hewson was born in

Croydon, Surrey Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

. He went to Pollards Hill Junior School, Pollards Hill, London and continued his education at Mitcham Grammar School, Mitcham, London, followed by aged 16 learning every aspect of tailoring at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London.

Athletics career

Early running career

Hewson started running whilst attending Mitcham Grammar School. In 1947 he began to run quarter miles and won the Mitcham Schools Championship. Cecil Dale o
Mitcham Athletics Club
saw this win and as a result awarded Hewson a scholarship to Mitcham A.C.. He was then introduced to Frank Drew one of the club's coaches who then became Hewson's first coach. In his last year as a Youth he ran the 880 in 1:59.4. In his first year as a Junior he won the A.A.A. Junior 880 title in a record time of 1:55.3. Hewson became the British 880 yards 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

1953 AAA Championships The 1953 AAA Championships was the 1953 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 10 to 11 July 1953 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

and successfully defended the title the following year at the 1954 AAA Championships.

Sub-4-minute mile

Sadly in April 1955 Hewson's coach Frank Drew died. He was then introduced to Austrian coach

Franz Stampfl Franz Ferdinand Leopold Stampfl MBE (born Vienna 18 November 1913 – died 19 March 1995 Melbourne) was one of the world's leading athletics coaches in the twentieth century. He pioneered a scientific system of Interval Training which became ve ...

who was already coaching Chris Chataway. At this time Hewson moved up to run the mile. Then on 28 May 1955, at the British Games Meeting in London, he became only the fourth = man in the world to run a four-minute mile, running 3:59.8 the same time achieved by Chris Chataway in this same race which was won by

in a time of 3:59.00, but where Hewson was placed third in the race.
Sub-4 Minute Mile Register
chronicles all of the sub 4-minute milers between 1954 - 2002.

1956 Olympics Melbourne Australia

Hewson came second in his heat for the 1500 metres on 29 November in a time of 3:48.0. In the 1500 metres final Hewson was leading in the final straight, only to be then passed by four men. The race was won by

Ron Delany Ronald Michael Delany (born 6 March 1935) is an Irish former athlete who specialised in middle-distance running. He won a gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He later earned a bronze medal in the 1500 metres event at the ...

in a time of 3:41.2. Hewson came fifth in a time of 3:42.6.

1958

1958 was Hewson's best season, in addition to winning a gold medal in the European Games, he also produced his best times over the half mile and the mile and their metric equivalent times, which when added to his record performances of previous years made him the fastest-ever Englishman over 880 yards, running a personal best in 1958 of 1:47.0, 1000 metres, 1000 yards and 1500 metres running a personal best in 3:41.1, whilst only Derek Johnson had run faster over 800 metres and

and

Derek Ibbotson George Derek Ibbotson (17 June 1932 – 23 February 2017) was an English runner who excelled in athletics in the 1950s. His most famous achievement was setting a new world record in the mile in 1957. Biography Ibbotson was born on 17 J ...

had run faster over the mile. Hewson won a gold medal in the Men's 1500 metres at The European Championships in Stockholm on 24 August 1958 in a time of 3:41.9. He also regained his AAA title at the

1958 AAA Championships The 1958 AAA Championships was the 1958 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 11 to 12 July 1958 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

and won a fourth AAA title at the

1959 AAA Championships The 1959 AAA Championships was the 1959 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA). It was held from 10 to 11 July 1959 at White City Stadium White City Stadiu ...

1960 Olympics Rome Italy

Hewson damaged a calf muscle six weeks before the Rome Olympics and so selectors insisted he run the 800 metres. In his qualifying heat he led for 700 metres before being passed by three runners, meaning that he came fourth and so was eliminated from the 800 metres final.

Career

Having retired from athletics after the Rome Olympics, Hewson continued working at Simpson's of Piccadilly, London as a tailor, before setting up his own tailoring company in the East End of London. Clothing, sport, fashion and retailing were to shape his working career, where he became women's fashion buyer for English Lady and subsequently sportwear and sporting goods buyer for

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...

. He then joined the Incentive Group where he was involved in the design and manufacture of corporate uniforms for major UK multi-national companies.

Personal life

Hewson married Roberta E. "Bobby" Bassford in 1957, but the marriage was annulled on the grounds that she had refused to consummate the marriage. He married Alison Blaiklock, a secretary, in 1963; the couple had three children, James, Caroline and Charles. They divorced in 1980 and Hewson was remarried to Marion Stiff and had four stepchildren Tim, Sally, Robert and Penny. Hewson died on 13 September 2022, at the age of 89.

Publications

Autobiography

* Flying Feet. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. 1962.

References

External links

British Olympic Committee

Sporting Heroes Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewson, Brian 1933 births 2022 deaths English male middle-distance runners British male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic People from Croydon Athletes from the London Borough of Croydon Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics