Michael Arthur Rawson (26 May 1934 – 26 October 2000) was an English

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Biography

Rwason 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

1956 AAA Championships The 1956 AAA Championships was the 1956 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 13 to 14 July 1956 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

. Later that year 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 ...

at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, participating in the men's 800 metres competition. Two years later he won a gold medal at the 1958 European Championships in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. 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 won a bronze medal in the 880 yards 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. He represented

Birchfield Harriers Birchfield Harriers is an sport of athletics, athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England. As well as welcoming recreational runners they cater for all levels of experience up to and including Olympi ...

and on his retirement from the sport spent many years coaching at Birchfield and working as an athletics reporter for the BBC and local newspapers. Rawson worked for the British Olympic Association at a number of Olympic Games. He died after a short illness on 26 October 2000 in Birmingham.

References

External links

*
Profile
at ''Sporting Heroes''
Profile
at ''TOPS in athletics'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawson, Mike 1934 births 2000 deaths Athletes from Birmingham, West Midlands English male middle-distance runners British male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportsmen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics