Douglas Gordon Wilson (28 January 1920 – 18 October 2010) was a British

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

Biography

Wilson was born in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

and was a member of the

Polytechnic Harriers The Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers or Kingston & Poly AC for short is an athletic club based in Kingston upon Thames in England. History The club was founded by philanthropist Quintin Hogg (merchant), Quintin Hogg in 1883, a ...

of London. His career was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1946, Wilson broke the English record for the 1.5 mile event and became the British 1 mile 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

1946 AAA Championships The 1946 AAA Championships was the 1946 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 19 to 20 July 1946 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

. Wilson represented the Great Britain team in the men's 1500m event at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, but was eliminated in the opening round, placing fifth in his heat. After retiring from athletics he worked as a journalist for

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

and later became the press officer for the Sports Aid Foundation. In 1993 he became editor of The Olympian magazine. In 2008 he was interviewed by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on the subject of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

that are to be held in London, where he suggested that the organising committee "should go back to basics, the simplicity of the games". He died in Winchester, Hampshire, England in October 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Doug 1920 births 2010 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics British male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain People from Islington (district) Athletes from the London Borough of Islington English male middle-distance runners 20th-century English sportsmen