Page 130 - WishStream Year of 2023

Famous Friday
WYNDHAM HALSWELLE
Wyndham Halswelle was born, to Scottish parents, in London on 30 May 1882 and educated at Char- terhouse School, where he excelled at athletics. He entered Sandhurst in 1899 and was commissioned into the Highland Light Infantry in 1901, immedi- ately joining his regiment in South Africa during the latter stages of the Boer War.
The Regiment remained in South Africa after the end of hostilities and, to keep the men occupied, various sporting events were organised. During an athletics competition, HLI soldier
noon, he won the 100, 220, 440 and 880 yard events at the Scottish Championship, a feat never since equalled at any games. Injured for much of 1907, he returned to the track to set a world record for the 300 yards and a British record for the 440 yards of 48.4 seconds that was not broken for 25 years. His Scottish record for the 300 yards was not beaten until 1961 by future MP, Menzies Campbell.
Jimmy Curran, himself a promis- ing athlete and future international coach, recognised Halswelle’s potential. When the Regiment returned to Edinburgh in 1904, Cur- ran persuaded his protégé to take up athletics seriously. That year, Halswelle was Army champion at 880 yards and the following year Scottish and AAA 440-yard champion.
In 1906, at the Intercalated Games in Athens, an event attracting athletes from across the world, Halswelle won silver in the 400 metres and bronze in the 800 metres. Later that year, in a single after-
Selected for the 400m at the 1908 London Olym- pics, Halswelle was the fastest qualifier with an Olympic record and, in the final, was up against three Americans. The event was not run in lanes at this time so the Americans were able to effectively ‘gang up’ on Halswelle, with John Car- penter forcing him wider and wider on the final bend to the very outside edge of the track. The judges declared the race void, disqualified Carpenter and re-scheduled the race for two days later. On the morning of the final, the other two Americans refused to take part in solidarity with Carpenter so Halswelle ran the race on his own. Strolling home in a respectable 50.2 seconds, this remains the
only Olympic athletics final won by a walkover.
Selected for the 400m at the
1908 London Olympics, Halswelle was the fastest qualifier with an Olympic record
128 HISTORICAL