Michael John Ellis (born 3 September 1936) was an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

athlete from England.

Biography

Ellis specialised in the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

events during his career and became the British hammeer throw 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

1957 AAA Championships The 1957 AAA Championships was the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). The event took place from 12 to 13 July 1957 at White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, w ...

and retained his 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 ...

. Shortly afterwards 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 ...

and claimed the gold medal for them in the men's hammer throw event at the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: ''Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad'' 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18 to 26 July 1958. It was the sixth edition of what would come to be known as the Commonwealth Games, the ...

Cardiff, Wales Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. Just before those games, he was one of many signatories in a letter to ''The Times'' on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'. Ellis won two more AAA hammer throw titles 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 ...

and the

1960 AAA Championships The 1960 AAA Championships was the 1960 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 15 to 16 July 1960 at White City Stadium White City Stadium in London ...

respectively. At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he 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 ...

in the hammer throw competition.

References

* Brown, Geoff and Hogsbjerg, Christian. ''Apartheid is not a Game: Remembering the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign.'' London: Redwords, 2020. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Mike 1936 births Living people English male hammer throwers British male hammer throwers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes from London Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games People educated at Preston Manor County Grammar School Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics