Roland Hardy (11 June 1926 – 14 June 2016)Roland Hardy's obituary
/ref> was a British

racewalker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

who competed in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

and in 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 ...

. He was born in Sheepbridge,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. Hardy was a five-time national champion in the 7 miles walk and a two-time national champion in the 2 miles walk.

Biography

Hardy was born in Sheepbridge,

, in June 1926. At school, Hardy took part in both cricket and football. In the latter, he was noticed by

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

's manager

Teddy Davison John Edward Davison (2 September 1887 – 1 February 1971) was an English footballer and manager who had a long and successful association with the football clubs of Sheffield, playing for The Wednesday for 18 years and later managing Sheffield ...

, who signed him to play for the side. However, Hardy's

National service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

stopped him from taking up a career in football. In April 1949, Hardy began to take up race walking, where he joined the

Sheffield United Harriers City of Sheffield & Dearne Athletic Club is an athletics club based in Sheffield, England. It is based at the Sheffield Hallam University City Athletics Stadium. The club competes in the British Athletics League Premiership and Northern Athlet ...

. Later that year, Hardy won the 1949

Sheffield Star Walk The Sheffield Star Walk was an amateur walking race organised by the ''Sheffield Star'' newspaper and held in Sheffield, England. The event, open to amateur walkers, was run annually from 1922 until 2000 over a distance of . It attracted up to 2 ...

, breaking the course record by 53 seconds. Hardy became the British 7 miles walk 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

1950 AAA Championships The 1950 AAA Championships was the 1950 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 14 to 15 July 1950 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

and successfully retained his title for the next three years in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

and

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

. In August 1951, Hardy set a new world record in the 5-mile walk, beating the previous time by nine seconds, and then broke the British 7-mile record one year later. With this form, Hardy was selected to represent Great Britain at the Olympics. Hardy competed at two Olympic Games. At the

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Hardy took part in the men's 10 kilometres walk, but was disqualified in his heat. Four years later, at the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, he finished in eighth place in the men's 20 kilometres walk. He died in June 2016, in

Chesterfield, Derbyshire Chesterfield is a market town, market and industrial town in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is north of Derby and south of Sheffield at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, Rivers Rother and River Hipper, Hipper. In 2011 ...

, at the age of 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Roland 1926 births 2016 deaths Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics English male race walkers British male race walkers People from the Borough of Chesterfield Sportspeople from Derbyshire Military personnel from Derbyshire 20th-century British military personnel 20th-century English sportsmen