Albert Hill (athlete), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Albert Hill (athlete)

athletics competitor

Date of Birth: 24-Mar-1889

Place of Birth: Tooting, England, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 08-Jan-1969

Profession: athletics competitor, middle-distance runner

Nationality: United Kingdom

Zodiac Sign: Aries


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About Albert Hill (athlete)

  • Albert George Hill (24 March 1889 – 8 January 1969) was a British track and field athlete.
  • He competed at the 1920 Olympics and won gold medals in the 800 m and 1500 m and a silver medal in the 3000 m team race.Hill started out as a long-distance runner, winning the British AAA championships over 4 miles in 1910.
  • During World War I he served with the Royal Flying Corps in France, and after the war changed to middle-distance running.
  • Coached by Sam Mussabini (coach of 100 m Olympic Champions Reggie Walker and Harold Abrahams), he won the 880 yd and 1 mile at the 1919 AAA championships and then equalled the British record of 4:16.8 for 1 mile.
  • He nearly was not selected for the Olympics the following year, the selectors considering the 31-year-old Hill too old.
  • Finally, he was allowed to take part at the Olympics, which were held in Antwerp, Belgium.
  • He made the final in the 800m, which was a closely contested race.
  • In the end, the 31-year-old Hill beat American Earl Eby for the gold, setting a British record of 1:53.4 on a slow track.Two days later, Hill completed the middle distance double by winning the 1500 m as well, thus completing a "double" not replicated by a British athlete until Kelly Holmes at the 2004 Olympics.
  • Helped by his compatriot, Philip Baker (who would receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959), he won comfortably, with Baker in second in a time of 4:01.8.
  • Hill also competed in the 3000 m team race event, in which the British team finished second, earning Hill's third Olympic medal.Hill won the 1921 AAA mile championship in a British record of 4:13.8, this was 1.2 seconds outside the world record and the second fastest amateur time ever.
  • Hill ended his running career in 1921 and became a coach himself, his most famous protégé being Sydney Wooderson.
  • He emigrated to Canada shortly after World War II, and died there in 1969.In 2010, he was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.

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