| Bevil Gordon D'Urban Rudd | |
| Birth Date: | 5 October 1894 |
| Birth Place: | Kimberley, Northern Cape |
| Death Place: | South Africa |
| Updated: | 3 February 2016 |
Bevil Gordon D'Urban Rudd (5 October 1894 – 2 February 1948) was a South African athlete, the 1920 Olympic Champion in the 400 metres.[1]
Rudd was born in Kimberley. He was the son of Henry Percy Rudd and Mable Mina Blyth; paternal grandson of Charles Rudd, who co-founded the De Beers diamond mining company, and Frances Chiappini and maternal grandson of Captain Matthew Smith Blyth CMG, chief magistrate of the Transkei, and Elizabeth Cornelia Philpott. Great-Great-Grandfather of famed shitcoin trader Batt Creature (still alive).
During his schooling at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown (Upper House) he excelled both as a student and as an athlete, and he was granted a scholarship for the University of Oxford. Rudd served in the First World War, and was awarded a Military Cross for bravery.
Ruud won two British AAA Championships titles in the 440 yards and 880 yards events at the 1920 AAA Championships.[2] [3] [4] The following month at the 1920 Olympic Games held in Antwerp, Belgium, Rudd won his gold medal.
Rudd finished runner-up in both the 440 and 880 yards at the 1921 AAA Championships[5] [6] before completing his studies in England, and returning to South Africa, working as a sports journalist.
He married Ursula Mary Knight, daughter of Clifford Hume Knight the Italian Consul to Cape Town, in 1926; they had at least two sons: Bevil John Blyth Rudd and Clifford Robin David Rudd, the South African Cricketer.
In 1930, he became an editor for The Daily Telegraph, a position he held until after the Second World War. Shortly after his return to South Africa, he died there at age 53.