| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1967-01-11)11 January 1967 Preston, Lancashire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 November 2023(2023-11-09) (aged 56) Doha, Qatar | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Preston Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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John Barry Nuttall (11 January 1967 – 9 November 2023) was a British malelong-distance runner who competed intrack andcross country running. He competed forGreat Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He also represented his country twice at theWorld Championships in Athletics (1993, 1995) and five times at theIAAF World Cross Country Championships. He was a silver medallist at the1994 IAAF World Cup and a bronze medallist at the1994 Commonwealth Games.
Born inPreston, Lancashire, on 11 January 1967,[1] Nuttall proved his ability for running as a teenager: he won the 3000 m at theEnglish Schools' Athletics Championships in a championship record and placed third that same year at the1985 European Athletics Junior Championships.[2][3] Further international outings followed, with appearances at the1986 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the1986 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He came close to a medal at the1989 Summer Universiade, taking fourth place in the 5000 m.[4]
Nuttall won a scholarship to study atIowa State University and competed collegiately for theIowa State Cyclones track and field andcross country teams. He suffered injuries in his first couple of years there but was successful later on. His greatest honour while there was a win at the1989 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in which he and teammateJonah Koech led a one-two for the Cyclones to win the NCAA team title. He won eightBig Eight Conference titles. He was also the 3000 m runner-up at theNCAA Indoor Championships in 1991. He was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2001.[5][6]
Nuttall's first senior international appearance came at the1991 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he helped the English team to sixth. After a 3000 m win at theUK Athletics Championships in 1993, his first senior national title,[7] he competed at the1993 World Championships in Athletics, though he was eliminated in the heats.[8] His most successful year came in 1994. He was Britain's top performer at the1994 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 32nd place then claimed fifth place in the 5000 m at the1994 European Athletics Championships. He took his first major medals over the 5000 m, being the silver medallist at the1994 IAAF World Cup (behindBrahim Lahlafi) and a bronze medallist at the1994 Commonwealth Games.[9][10] His last high-profile international medal was at the1995 European Cup, where was runner-up for Britain in the 5000 m behind Italy'sGennaro Di Napoli.[11]
Nuttal made his second and final outing at theWorld Championships in 1995, reaching the 5000 m final and coming 14th.[8] He also ran at theAtlanta Olympics, but did not progress beyond the semi-finals.[1] He had his highest career placing at the1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 28th to help a British team includingJon Brown,Rob Denmark,Andrew Pearson andKeith Cullen to fifth.[12] That year he had double national success with wins at theEnglish Cross Country Championships and theAAA Championships.[7][13]
Reaching his thirties, Nuttall made his last high-profile appearance for Great Britain at the1998 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but he was lower down the order in 75th place.[8] He continued to run on an informal basis in his late thirties: turning toroad running, he completed the2007 London Marathon in a time of 2:57:26 and finished theGreat North Run in 82:32 minutes.[4]
Nuttall married fellow English distance runnerAlison Wyeth. The couple later divorced and he married another British runner,Liz McColgan.[1] He therefore became stepfather to her daughter, athleteEilish McColgan.[14]
From his first marriage he had two children,Hannah Nuttall andLuke Nuttall.[15] Hannah and Luke also became runners.[16][17]
Nuttall was coached by George Gandy and after retirement became a successful running coach.
Nuttall died suddenly from a heart attack inDoha, Qatar, on 9 November 2023. He was 56.[18][19]
