Charles Thomas White (16 November 1917 – 30 January 1985) was a British

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

. He competed in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

and 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 ...

Biography

White born in

Brigg Brigg (Wikipedia:IPA for English#Key, /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies ...

, North Lincolnshire, lived at 149 Berkeley Street in Scunthorpe. He attended

Brigg Grammar School Brigg ( /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east–west tra ...

. His father Percy also played sport. White finished second behind

Arthur Wint Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE (25 May 1920 – 19 October 1992) was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympi ...

in the 880 yards event at the

1946 AAA Championships The 1946 AAA Championships was the 1946 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 19 to 20 July 1946 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

and the following month finished fifth in the 800 metres at the

1946 European Athletics Championships The 3rd European Athletics Championships were held from 22 August to 25 August 1946 in the Bislett Stadion in Oslo, Norway. For the first time it was a combined event for men and women, and for the first time a city in Scandinavia hosted the champ ...

. White 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

1947 AAA Championships The 1947 AAA Championships was the 1947 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 18 to 19 July 1947 at White City Stadium in London, England. Summary The ...

. White represented the Great Britain team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, competing in the 800 metres. He married on 20 September 1949 to Mary Webster, a half-mile athlete, at

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

registry office. The honeymoon was in Jersey. He trained with the Appleby-Frodingham club from October 1949. The following February, White finished fifth in the 880 yards for the England athletics team at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...

, as well as 5th in the 1 mile event. White appeared at a second Olympic Games in 1952, when he represented the Great Britain team at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. The family lived at 35 Devonshire Road in Scunthorpe, with two sons Richard and Alan. He collapsed and died, aged 67, at Holme Hall Golf Club. The funeral was held on Tuesday 5 February 1985 at 10.30am.''Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph'' Wednesday 6 February 1985, page 8

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Tom 1917 births 1985 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics British male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Sportspeople from Scunthorpe Place of birth missing English male middle-distance runners 20th-century English sportsmen