Jack Lovelock
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | John Edward Lovelock | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Crushington, New Zealand[1] | 5 January 1910||||||||||||||||||||
Died | Brooklyn, New York, U.S.[1] | 28 December 1949 (aged 39)||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 169 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 61 kg (134 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Running | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 1500 m, mile | ||||||||||||||||||||
Club | University of Oxford Achilles Club | ||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best(s) | 1500 m – 3:47.8 (1936) Mile – 4:07.6 (1933)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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John Edward Lovelock (5 January 1910 – 28 December 1949) was a New Zealand
Early life
Lovelock was born in the town of Crushington (near Reefton) as the son of English immigrants. From his early days at school he participated and excelled in fields beyond athletics. At Fairlie School (1919–23) he was dux of the primary school, represented the school in rugby, competed in swimming and athletics, and was a prefect. At Timaru Boys' High School, which he attended as a boarder from 1924, he set school athletics records but was also involved in nearly every area of school life. In 1928, his final year, Lovelock was school dux, head prefect, and won the school's boxing championship cup. The following year he went to University of Otago to study medicine. Lovelock showed a talent for sports while at the university, and competed for the university team in the New Zealand 1-mile (1.6 km) championships. In 1931 he became a Rhodes Scholar at Exeter College, Oxford from 1931 to 1934. He graduated with an MB ChB degree as a medical practitioner.[citation needed]
Sports career
In 1932—by then holder of the British Empire record for the mile, at 4:12.0—Lovelock competed in the
The following year, he set a
The highlight of Lovelock's career came in 1936, when he won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the
Lovelock, who was the captain of the
Later life
Lovelock was a
Posthumous commemorations
In 1990 the New Zealand post office issued a set of stamps featuring Lovelock along with George Nēpia.[6]
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage refers to a "Lovelock legend", and describes him as having "captured the imagination of New Zealanders and others. Streets, playing fields and sports bars have been named after him. He has inspired books, stamps, a stage play and a film. In 2002 a statue was erected at Timaru Boys High, where much of the memorabilia related to him is stored."[7]
His Victory Oak from the 1936 Olympics was planted at Timaru Boys' High School in New Zealand, and is considered a nationally protected landmark.[1]
The Lovelock Classic is an annual athletics meet held in Timaru, with the men's mile run as the feature event.[8]
Lovelock Place, in the
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Statue at Timaru Boy's High
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Front plate on the statue
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Lovelock Oak (Olympic oak tree from Berlin, 1936)
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Memorial in front of Lovelock Oak
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Memorial at Crushington
Bibliography
- The Legend of Lovelock by Norman Harris, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, New Zealand, 1964
- Lovelock: New Zealand's Olympic gold miler by Christopher Tobin, Dunedin, 1984
- Jack Lovelock - Athlete & Doctor by Dr Graeme Woodfield, Wellington, 2007
- As If Running on Air: The Journals of Jack Lovelock edited by David Colquhoun, Wellington 2008
- Conquerors of Time by Lynn McConnell, London, 2009
- Lovelock by James McNeish
References
- ^ a b c d e f Jack Lovelock Archived 27 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
- ^ Jack Lovelock. trackfield.brinkster.net
- ^ *Megede, Ekkehard zur (1970) Die Geschichte der olympischen Leichtathletik - Band 1: 1896-1936 Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG
- ISBN 0-85112-980-3
- ISBN 978-1-84513-695-6.
- ^ Stanley Gibbons stamp numbers 1559, 1560 and MS1561
- ^ "Jack Lovelock", New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage
- ^ Allpress, Koren (4 January 2017). "Will the Lovelock Mile record fall?". Timaru Herald (via Stuff.co.nz). Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ "Honouring sportspeople". Waikato Times. 2 November 2012. p. 9.
External links
- John Lovelock at Olympics.com
- John Lovelock at Olympic.org (archived)
- Jack Lovelock at Olympedia
- Jack Lovelock at the New Zealand Olympic Committee (archive)
- Jack Lovelock at the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
- Lovelock at NZonScreen (documentary film online)
- Extensive biography from the Dictionary of New Zealand
- Biography from 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
- Jack Lovelock Athlete & Doctor Latest Biography
- Jack Lovelock, photo after Mile of the Century in 1935
- As If Running on Air: The Journals of Jack Lovelock at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 November 2011)