John Sherwood at the Munich Olympics in 1972 (© Getty Images)
World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that 1968 Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist John Sherwood died on 19 August at the age of 80.
Sherwood was born in the North Yorkshire town of Selby in England on 4 June 1945. He became a multiple national champion and was selected for Great Britain & Northern Ireland for three editions of the Olympic Games – Tokyo in 1964 as a reserve, Mexico City in 1968 and Munich in 1972.
It was in Mexico City that he became an Olympic medallist, finishing third in the 400m hurdles final in 49.03 behind his compatriot David Hemery and West Germany’s Gerhard Hennige. He also anchored the 4x400m team to a fifth-place finish.
He became a European silver medallist the following year and won Commonwealth Games gold in Edinburgh in 1970.
Sherwood, who studied in Loughborough, married Sheila Parkin in 1968 and as Sheila Sherwood she won long jump silver at that year’s Olympic Games.
In his closing speech for the successful London 2012 Games bid, two-time Olympic champion Sebastian Coe – now President of World Athletics – explained how, as a 12-year-old in Sheffield in 1968, seeing the achievements of John and Sheila Sherwood in Mexico City inspired him to pursue his own career in athletics. Coe went on to join their Sheffield athletics club and it was Sheila who gave him his first pair of spikes.
Alongside his athletics achievements, John was a teacher for four decades before retiring in 2006 and he regularly appeared on the popular BBC sports programme The Superstars in the 1970s and 1980s.
“As I told the voting IOC members in 2005 when bidding for the London 2012 Games, I remember sitting in front of a black and white TV while at school aged 12, to follow the action at the Mexico Olympic Games,” said Coe.
“We watched two athletes from our home town compete – John got bronze in the 400m hurdles and Sheila got silver in the long jump. As I explained, a window to a new world opened for me that day. It left me knowing exactly what I wanted to be. I went to my local track to see John and Sheila with their medals, later joining their club.”
During his 2005 speech, Coe added: “My journey here to Singapore started in that school hall and continues today – in wonder and in gratitude.”
World Athletics
