Tony Harris

Tony Harris (pictured on the right) was one of Britain’s finest middle distance runners in the 1960s and a former European junior record holder for 800m with 1:50.2 in 1959, reducing this again the following year to 1:50.0. He was twice the AAA (UK) junior 880 yards champion.

He set 13 Welsh records over 880 yards, a mile and their metric equivalents and was the first Welshman to run under 1:50 for 880 in 1961.

His best time of 1:48.5 for 880 yards (1:47.8 800m equivalent) recorded in in 1964 was the third best in Britain that year.

The times he was running for 880/800 and 1500/mile 60 years ago would have won him every Welsh title at those events up to the present day – that’s how good he was.

Born in Bridgend, he left Wales as a 5 year-old just after the second world war, but he never forgot his Welsh roots, returning whenever possible to run in Wales. He was quite a versatile athlete running under 50 secs for 440 yards whilst also gaining a senior cross-country vest in 1964 at the international (now World) championships in Dublin.

He ran in the Perth (1962) and Jamaica (1966) Commonwealth Games whilst also representing Britain in the 1962 Belgrade European Championships.

But his crowning achievement making an indelible mark on Welsh athletics came in 1965 when he became the first Welshman to better 4 minutes for the mile with 3mins 58.96secs. This time was achieved on the loose White City cinders - then the scene of all of the main British athletics events – which were not conducive to fast times whether it was sprints or middle distance. Incidentally, the previous year’s Olympic champion Peter Snell of New Zealand was back in 7^th.

Tony was a worthy addition to our Hall of Fame in 2024.

Written by Clive Williams.