Arthur Rowe (athlete)

Arthur Rowe ( born August 17, 1936 in Barnsley, † September 13, 2003 ) was an English athlete. At a height of 1.87 m, it had a competition weight of 100 kg.

The trained smith won in 1957 the first of five championship titles of AAA in the shot put. In 1958 he came with his first British record 16.98. Overall, he set to 1961 15 British and six European records. His record of 19.56 meters was surpassed as the European record in 1966 from Hungary Vilmos Varju.

In the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in July 1958 Rowe won with 17.57 meters and one meter lead over the second-placed compatriot Martyn Lucking. A month later at the European Championships in Stockholm gained four shot putters over 17 meters. Arthur Rowe won with 17.78 meters in front of Viktor Lipsnis from the Soviet Union with 17.47 meters and Jiri Skobla ( CSSR ) with 17.12 meters. Fourth was the German Hermann Lingnau ahead of the Italian Silvano Meconi who should replace 1959 Skobla as a European record, and was in turn succeeded by Rowe.

At the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 Rowe came in qualifying only 16.68 meters and missed the finals by seven centimeters.

At the age of 25 years Rowe ended his amateur career in athletics to sign in Oldham to try as a professional in the Rugby League. Here, however, he had little success. In the following years, Rowe could be seen as a professional at the events of the Scottish Highland Games. In 1970 he became world champion in the caber toss.