Basil Heatley

Basil Heatley ( born December 25, 1933 Kenilworth / Warwickshire ) is a British athlete who was successful in the early 1960s as a long distance, marathon and cross-country runners. The 1.73 m wide and 66 -kg athlete competed for the Coventry Godiva Harriers.

Heatley won a total of five British Championships:

In addition, he was also an international success.

• At the International World Cross Country Championships 1961 in Nantes, he won the gold medal in 45:23 min.

• At the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, he recorded with Brian Kilby and Ron Hill part of the marathon distance. The superior winner with about four minutes ahead was Abebe Bikila ( gold in 2:12:11,2 hours). Heatley entered the stadium lying in third position, but was able to sprint to the finish line before him Kokichi Tsuburaya ongoing and secure the silver medal in 2:16:19,2 hrs. The Japanese, who finished 3.6 seconds later, this " disgrace " before native audience could not cope and committed suicide in 1968.

A few months earlier, in June 1964, Heatley had won the marathon from Windsor to Chiswick They have established a new world record in 2:13:55 hrs. This time was indeed undercut by Abebe Bikila in Tokyo, Heatley, however, brought the No. 2 year global leaderboard.