Albie Thomas

Albie Thomas
Personal information
Full nameAlbert George Thomas
Born8 February 1935 (1935-02-08)
Hurstville, New South Wales
Died27 October 2013(2013-10-27) (aged 78)
Unconfirmed
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Australia
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 1958 Cardiff 3 miles
Bronze medal – third place 1958 Cardiff One mile

Albert George "Albie" Thomas OAM (8 February 1935 – 27 October 2013) was an Australian middle- and long-distance runner who set world records at two miles and three miles.[1] He was born in Hurstville, New South Wales.[2]

Career

Thomas set a new world record (13:10.6) for three miles at Santry, Ireland on 9 July 1958.[3] He returned to Santry later that summer. On 6 August, he was the pacemaker in Herb Elliott's mile world record of 3:54.5; he had enough strength left to finish the race in 3:58.6, his first four-minute mile.[3][4] The following day, he ran two miles in 8:32.0, also a world record.[3]

Thomas competed in the Olympics in 1956, 1960 and 1964, running 5000 metres on all three occasions and also participating in the 1500 metres the latter two times. His best Olympic finish was a 5th place in 1956.[2] He also competed in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958 and 1962; in the 1958 Games in Cardiff he won a bronze medal in the mile run and a silver in the 3 mile race.[2][5]

Albie was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia,[6] Australian Sports Medal,[citation needed] Centenary Medal,[7] and has been admitted to the New South Wales Government Hall of Champions.[8] He was awarded a Merit Award and conferred with Life Membership of St. George District Athletics Club.[9]

Thomas died, aged 78, on 27 October 2013.[10]

References

  1. ^ Len Johnson (27 October 2013). "'Albie' Thomas has run his last race". Theage.com.au. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Albie Thomas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "News Round-Up". Athletics Ireland. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  4. ^ Sparks, Bob. "Sub-4 Register in Date Sequence". Association of Track and Field Statisticians. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  5. ^ "COMMONWEALTH GAMES MEDALLISTS – ATHLETICS (MEN)". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  6. ^ It's an Honour: OAM. Retrieved 7 Sep 2015
  7. ^ It's an Honour: Centenary Medal. Retrieved 7 Sep 2015
  8. ^ "VALE Albert "Albie" Thomas". St. George District Athletics Club. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Life Members". St. George District Athletics Club. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  10. ^ "VALE: Albie Thomas". Athletics Australia. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.