Gerald Rupert Lawrence ANDERSON

After prepping at Eton, Laurie Anderson did not follow his older brother, Arthur, to Cambridge, but instead went to Trinity College Oxford where he won his Blue in 1909-10 and 1912, having missed the 1911 match due to illness. He won the 120y hurdles in 1909 and ran in the 440y in 1910 and 1912 in the Oxbridge match, and he set the first official IAAF world record of 56.8 for the 440y hurdles, at Crystal Palace, in 1910. Unfortunately for Anderson, the 400m hurdles was not on the Olympic program in 1912, although having won the AAA 120y hurdles in 1910 and 1912, he was still favored to win a medal in the high hurdles, but he fell in his semi-final. A notable figure at Eton, he achieved the rare distinction of being both Captain of Oppidan and President of “Pop.”

After graduating from Oxford, Anderson became a manager at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead. Three days after the outbreak of World War I he joined the Army and was commissioned into the Cheshire Regiment. Serving in France, he was killed in action three months after the start of the hostilities. He was twice shot and wounded, but remained on duty, and was then killed when shot through the heart. Anderson was mentioned in dispatches in January 1915. His brother Arthur was also a sprinter, and was a Cambridge Blue and fellow Olympian.

Personal Bests: 440y – 49.7 (1912); 880y – 1:57.2e (1911); 120yH – 15.2 (1912); 440yH – 56.8 (1910).