G. Henry STALLARD

Henry Stallard won his full blue as a Freshman at Cambridge and with the first of his three victories (1920-22) in the Oxbridge Sports set a UK junior mile record of 4:27.6. Later that year, while still a junior, he was a member of the Oxbridge team which set a world record in the 4×880 y relay at the Penn Relays. At the AAA Championships he won the 440 y (1925), 880 y (1924), and mile (1923), and remains the only man to have won these three titles. Stallard missed the chance of winning an AAA title for a fourth successive year when he withdrew at the last minute from the 1926 Championships after giving blood to save a man's life at the hospital where he was a surgeon. Despite his three victories, his best performance at the Championships came in the mile in 1921 when he pushed Albert Hill to a new British record. Stallard, who finished 2½ yards behind Hill, also beat the old record by more than two seconds and improved his personal best by some eight seconds. At the 1924 Olympics his chances were spoiled when he sustained a stress fracture of the right foot in the 1,500 heats. The team Medical Officer refused to give Stallard a pain-killing injection and, in the circumstances, his courageous running was quite remarkable. In the 1500 he placed third with a new British record, and in the 800 he finished fourth in the same time as the bronze medalist. In his five individual races in international dual meets, his only defeat came in the 1926 French match 400, in which he finished third. Stallard was a distinguished eye surgeon, serving as President of the Ophthalmological Society in 1972.

Personal Bests: 440y – 50.0 (1925); 800 – 1:53.0 (1924); 1500 – 3:55.6 (1924); Mile – 4:14.2 (1921).