Frank Sando
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Frank Dennis Sando (14 March 1931 – 13 October 2012) was a British
Early life
Sando was born on 31 March 1931 in Maidstone, to Ernest and Maria Sando. Attending Maidstone Grammar School, Sando first began his involvement in athletics at sixteen, breaking the school mile record. Simultaneously, he began an amateur career at Maidstone Harriers, winning the Kent County Junior Cross-Country Championship in 1948 and the Kent Youth Cross-Country Championship in 1949. He finished fourth in the English Youth Cross-Country Championship in 1948 and 1949.
Having left school, Sando undertook National Service in October 1949, joining the army. In 1951, he broke the Army three-mile record which had stood for 23 years, having previously that year won the Inter-Services Cross-Country Championship.
Senior career
Leaving the army in 1951, he began working for the Reed Paper Group in Aylesford, Kent, where he met his future wife Sybil Page. After resigning from Maidstone Harriers, Sando joined the Paper Group's athletics club, juggling work, professional examinations, family commitments and his athletic career. It was at this time that he gained the nickname: the "Maidstone Mudlark".
The following year, 1952, he finished fifth in the National Cross-Country Championships and ninth in the
In 1954 Sando ran in the
Sando went on to win the
The International Championships of 1958 resulted in a 3rd-place finish for Sando and, in the two consecutive years, he finished 2nd and 8th in the same competition. However, in 1961 he failed to qualify for the national cross-country team. He subsequently decided to retire from serious athletics to concentrate on family commitments and further study, bringing to an end a long sporting career at the top of world athletics.
He was one of many signatories in a letter to The Times on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'.[2]
Later life
After retiring from athletics, Sando studied at
Sando continued his involvement with athletics in an organisational capacity into his later years, having been President of Kent County Athletics Association in 1980 and 2003, as well as various other administrative roles within the county organisation. Subsequent to his presidency of KCAA, he continued to be involved in organising grass roots cross-country events. From 2007–2008, Sando served as President of the Old Maidstonian Society.
Family and personal life
Sando was married to Sybil and the couple have two children – Lorraine and Andrew – and two grandchildren, Benjamin and Toby Abbott (who both attended Maidstone Grammar School like their grandfather). Until his death in October 2012, Frank continued to live in Aylesford, Kent with his wife – within sight of the Aylesford Paper Mill training ground where his athletic career first began.
References
- ^ "Frank Sando". Racingpast.ca. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ Brown and Hogsbjerg, Apartheid is not a game, 16
- Brown, Geoff and Hogsbjerg, Christian. Apartheid is not a Game: Remembering the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign. London: Redwords, 2020. ISBN 9781912926589.
External links
- Frank Sando at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Empire Games - Chataway's 3 Mile Triumph 1954 at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 September 2012)
- Starting out in the 1940s at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 March 2012)
- Britain's 1-2-3 1957 at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 September 2012)
- British Olympic Committee at the Wayback Machine (archived 28 August 2007)
- Frank Sando's obituary at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 December 2013)