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Roland Hardy
British racewalker From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Roland Hardy (11 June 1926 – 14 June 2016)[1] was a British racewalker who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics.[2] He was born in Sheepbridge, Derbyshire.[3] Hardy was a five-time national champion in the 7 miles walk and a two-time national champion in the 2 miles walk.[4]
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Hardy was born in Sheepbridge, Derbyshire, in June 1926.[2] At school, Hardy took part in both cricket and football.[2] In the latter, he was noticed by Sheffield United's manager Teddy Davison, who signed him to play for the side.[2] However, Hardy's National service stopped him from taking up a career in football.[2] In April 1949, Hardy began to take up race walking, where he joined the Sheffield United Harriers.[2] Later that year, Hardy won the 1949 Sheffield Star Walk, breaking the course record by 53 seconds.[5]
Hardy became the British 7 miles walk champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1950 AAA Championships[6] and successfully retained his title for the next three years in 1951, 1952[7] and 1953.[8]
In August 1951, Hardy set a new world record in the 5-mile walk, beating the previous time by nine seconds,[2] and then broke the British 7-mile record one year later.[2] With this form, Hardy was selected to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.[9]
Hardy competed at two Olympic Games.[10] At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Hardy took part in the men's 10 kilometres walk, but was disqualified in his heat.[11] Four years later, at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, he finished in eighth place in the men's 20 kilometres walk.[12]
He died in June 2016, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, at the age of 90.[13][14]
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