Michael A Ralph (born 4 July 1938) is a British retired

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

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

Biography

Ralph was a member of the British Army (Duke of Wellington Regiment) based in

Holywood, County Down Holywood ( ; ) is a town in the metropolitan area of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a Holywood, County Down (civil parish), civil parish and townland of lying on the shore of Belfast Lough, between Belfast and Bangor, County ...

and 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 triple jump 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 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 ...

, Wales. Ralph finished second behind John Whall in the triple jump event 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 after being the best placed British athlete at the

1962 AAA Championships The 1962 AAA Championships was the 1962 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 13 to 14 July 1962 at White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, ...

and the

1963 AAA Championships The 1963 AAA Championships was the 1963 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 12 to 13 July 1963 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

was considered the British triple jump champion. Ralph went to study at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

and was Oxford University's association football captain. He was the 1961 Northern Counties champion and played for

Wycombe Wanderers F.C. Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

. At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, 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 men's triple jump. Later, Ralph became a physical education teacher in Leeds and then Birmingham University and took up coaching.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralph, Michael 1938 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics British male triple jumpers English male triple jumpers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games athletes for England Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford