Paul Nihill MBE runs the Medway Mile
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Olympic hero Paul Nihill MBE faced one of his toughest challenges in many a year as his family joined him for the first Medway Mile Paul, the first British athlete to contest four Olympic games, ran the course with his daughter, two sons and five grandchildren. The 67 year-old, from Chatham, won more than 100 national titles in his career. |
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His crowning achievement was winning a silver medal in the 50km walk at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
He said: "I'd been looking for a run against the whole family for a while so when I saw a leaflet advertising the Medway Mile my daughter logged on to the website and registered us all.
"They wanted to see if I had another race in me.
His latest appearance will be among his last. Next year Paul Nihill will hang up his training shoes after a sporting career which stretches back to his school days in 1950s Croydon.
A talented amateur boxer and runner in his youth, Paul discovered race walking as he recovered from a serious knee injury.
He went on to hold two world records, and between 1967 and 1970 was beaten just once in 138 races.
For most people it's a dream come true to compete in the Olympic games once, but Paul was given the opportunity four times, including the tragic Munich games of 1972 when Palestinian terrorists assassinated Israeli competitors.
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He was named the UK athlete of the year in 1969 and was awarded the MBE for services to sport in 1976. Paul narrowly missed being shot when former middle-distance runner David Bedford fired an air rifle at him while training for the Munich games in Switzerland. Paul said: "David had an air rifle and he used to do target practise after training. |
"One day me and my friend shouted down to him from our room and he turned round and fired the rifle at us, breaking a window near my head."
Paul, who is president of the National Race Walking Association, said he was confident of British success at the London games with promising Medway athletes coming through the ranks.
Words and picture courtesy of the Medway Messenger
July 2007 news