| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British (English) |
| Born | (1933-03-10)10 March 1933 (age 92) Ilford, England |
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | 400 m |
| Club | Southgate Harriers |
John Derek Wrighton MB, BS, FRCS (born 10 March 1933) is a retiredtrack and field athlete who competed at the1960 Summer Olympics.
Wrighton finished third behindPeter Higgins in the 440 yards event at the1957 AAA Championships.[1]
He represented theEngland athletics team[2] and won a silver medal in the 4 × 440 yards relay at the1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games inCardiff, Wales.[3][4] Shortly afterwards he won two gold medals at the 1958 European Championships inStockholm, Sweden: in the men's individual 400 metres and in the 4 × 400 metres relay, alongsideTed Sampson,John MacIsaac, andJohn Salisbury. Known for both his pronounced lean when running and his erratic pacing, John Wrighton and John Salisbury marked the beginning of the renaissance of British quarter miling after the second World War.[5]
Wrighton became theBritish 440 yards champion after winning the BritishAAA Championships title at the1959 AAA Championships[6][7] and then at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he representedGreat Britain in the 400 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay events.[8]
From 1958, Wrighton served on a short-service commission with theRoyal Navy, achieving the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant, after which he was placed on the emergency list and retired in May 1961. He then completed his medical training becoming FRCS in 1967 and made his home in Dorset where he worked for many years as an orthopaedic surgeon.
Wrighton was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by theUniversity of Bournemouth in 2007. Wrighton served on the board of the university for seven years.[9]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)European Athletics Championships champions in men's400 metres | |
|---|---|
|
