| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British (Welsh) | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 October 1913 England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 5 August 2004 (aged 90) England | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Event | middle-distance | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Cardiff AAC | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
James William Llewellyn Alford (15 October 1913 – 5 August 2004) was a Welsh track athlete who was born in Cardiff, Wales.
Biography
[edit]Alford finished third behind Arthur Collyer in the 880 yards event at the 1937 AAA Championships.[1][2][3]
At the 1938 Empire Games in Sydney, Australia, Alford won the gold medal in the 1 mile event, becoming the first athlete in a Welsh vest to strike gold in the Empire Games.[4][5] At the time of the 1938 Games he was a teacher and lived at 17 Llandough Street, Cardiff.[6]
At home, he won 11 Welsh titles in disciplines ranging from the 440 yards to cross country. He became first national coach for athletics in Wales in 1948 and is a member of both the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and Welsh Athletics Hall of Fame.
As a coach, Alford guided and advised many UK athletes to represent the UK and gain honours internationally. He was known to inspire and encourage disadvantaged athletes.
He was the author and collaborator of several books and many articles, also translating many overseas books and articles into English and worked for the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) for a number of years, organising coaching forums and writing many articles.
References
[edit]- ^ "The Athletic Championships". Liverpool Daily Post. 17 July 1937. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Six records go by the board at White City". Evening Despatch. 19 July 1937. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Athletics". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ^ "Medal Standings Sydney 1938". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ^ "UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, Brisbane to London Arrival - 1 Apr 1938". Ancestry. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
External links
[edit]- Jim Alford 1938 Empire Games gold medallist dies at 90, obituary at IAAF, 9 August 2004
- Obituary by Robert Cole in The Independent, 21 August 2004