Joseph Edmund Deakin (6 February 1879 – 30 June 1972) 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

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

in London.

Biography

Deakin served with the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

and fought in the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. During this time, he set South African records at both the 880 yards and 1 mile. While posted to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, he ran with

Clonliffe Harriers Clonliffe Harriers is an athletics club based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1886, and is one of the oldest athletics clubs in Ireland. It has been based in Morton Stadium since the 1950s but was originally based in Clonliffe. The Santry ...

and won the Irish 1 mile and 4 mile titles in 1901. Returning to England, he joined

Herne Hill Harriers The Herne Hill Harriers is an amateur athletics sports club based at Tooting Bec Athletics Track in Tooting Bec, London. The club caters to all levels and ages of track, field, road running and cross-country running and begins training athlete ...

in 1903 and soon established a reputation as one of the country's finest cross-country runners, winning an individual bronze (1905) and team gold medals (1905, 1906 and 1908) at the

International Cross Country Championships The International Cross Country Championships was an annual international competition in cross- country running. It was created in 1903 by the International Cross Country Union (ICCU) and it marked the first time that an annual international ch ...

. Deakin finished second behind George Butterfield in the 1 mile event and second behind Alexander Duncan in the 4 mile event at the 1907 AAA Championships. He also finished second in the English national cross-country championships in 1907 and showed sufficient form in track races during the early part of the 1908 season to be selected to race in three events at the Olympic Games. Deakin won his first round heat of the 1500 metres event with a time of 4:13.6. Despite being one of the slowest first round winners, Deakin won by seventy-five yards. His time in the final was better, though he still finished sixth at 4:07.9. The next morning, Deakin led the British team home to victory in the 3 mile team race, with Arthur Robertson, William Coales,

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

and

Norman Hallows Norman Frederick Hallows (29 December 1886 – 16 October 1968) was an English middle-distance runner who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Biography Hallows was educated at Felsted School and Keble College, Oxford (University of Oxford ...

. After a celebratory lunch, complete with champagne refreshments, he lined up for the heats of the five miles competition. Unsurprisingly, he dropped out of the race before the finish. Deakin joined Surrey AC after the Olympics and competed for his new club in the

Polytechnic Marathon The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a marathon held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the ...

. He finished in 20th place. After service in World War I, which saw him temporarily blinded, he returned to racing and improved his previous marathon performance by finishing 8th in the 1920 "Poly". He continued in competition as a veteran, and his last race was not until the eve of his 90th birthday. He died just three years after his last race.

Biography

References

Further reading

See also