Peter Hans Dudley WARD

Born in Berlin to British parents, Peter Ward was a world-ranked performer at 3 miles/5,000 metres in the years preceding World War II. Although Sydney Wooderson improved on Ward's British records in 1946, it was not until 1952 that another British athlete bettered his performances. An Olympic finalist and AAA Champion in 1936, Ward enjoyed his greatest season the following year, when he retained his AAA 3 miles title, won the 5K at the World Student Games and was the winner in three of four international matches. In the fourth, against Finland, he produced the finest performance of his career in finishing a close second to the great Finn, Taisto Mäki. At 3 miles, Ward placed second at the 1938 British Empire Games and was second at the AAA Championships in 1938-39. The 1938 British Empire Games 6 miles race he did not finish.

As the only fluent German speaker on the 1936 British Olympic team he was used as an unofficial translator for the team including during a number of meetings with Chancellor Hitler. After serving as a major in the Royal Artillery during the war, Ward returned to competition and, although he never recaptured his earlier form, was named as a “possible” for the 1948 Olympics. He was the founder and managing director of a firm that manufactured scientific instruments and was one of world's top repairers of specialist toys and instruments.

Personal Bests: Mile – 4:17.8 (1937); 2000 – 5:31.8 (1936); 2 miles – 9:04.0 (1939); 3 miles – 14:05.6 (1938); 5000 – 14:31.6 (1937).