| Harold Nelson | |
| Birth Name: | William Harold Nelson |
| Birth Date: | 26 April 1923 |
| Birth Place: | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Death Place: | Richmond, New Zealand |
| Height: | 5feet[1] |
| Weight: | 126lb |
| Relatives: | Eliza Anscombe (grandmother) |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Sport: | Track and field |
| Coach: | Bernie McKernan |
| Nationals: | 1 mile champion (1947) 3 miles champion (1947, 1948) 6 miles champion (1948) Cross country champion (1946, 1951)[2] |
| Pb: | 1 mile – 4:14.8 3 miles – 14:19.4 6 miles – 29:57.4 |
William Harold Nelson (26 April 1923 – 1 July 2011) was a New Zealand long-distance runner who won two medals at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland.
Born in Dunedin on 26 April 1923,[3] Nelson was the son of Grace Ledingham Stewart—daughter of artist Eliza Anscombe—and William Alexander Anthony Nelson.[4] He was educated at Otago Boys' High School, and was inspired to take up athletics after seeing a film in 1938 about the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin that included New Zealander Jack Lovelock's winning the 1500 m gold medal.[5] Nelson served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during World War II.[6]
On 20 March 1948, Nelson married Margaret Joyce Calder, and the couple went on to have four children.[7] [8]
Nelson graduated from the University of Otago in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts.[9]
Coached by Bernie McKernan, Nelson first came to national prominence as an athlete when he won the under-19 one-mile title at the New Zealand junior championships in 1941, in a national junior record time of 4:30.0.[1] [2] [5] His athletics career was interrupted by World War II, but during the war he won a number of services athletics events.[10] Following an accident while serving with the RNZAF, Nelson was invalided home and he feared that he may never run again.[1] However, after an operation, he was able to resume his running career.[1]
In 1946, Nelson won the national cross-country championship, and in 1947 he won the New Zealand one-mile and three-mile titles at the national championships in Auckland.[10] The same year, he captured the one- and three-mile titles at the New South Wales amateur athletics championships at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[10]
At the New Zealand athletics championships in 1948, Nelson won both the three- and six-mile events.[2] His time of 29:57.4 over six miles was a New Zealand record, and made him the second-fastest athlete in the world over the distance at that time.[2] [10] [11]
Nelson was subsequently selected as team captain and flagbearer for the New Zealand team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.[10] Competing in the 10,000 m, he suffered from dehydration and had to withdraw after 17 laps.[5] In the heats of the 5000 m, he recorded a time of 15:34.4, finishing sixth and not progressing to the final.[3]
At the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, Nelson won the gold medal in the 6 miles, in a time of 30:29.6.[12] He also competed in the 3 miles, winning the silver medal with a time of 14:28.8, behind Englishman Len Eyre.[12]
Nelson won his final national championship title, the cross country, in 1951.[2] [12]
A schoolteacher, Nelson and his family moved to Nelson in 1951, where he taught at Nelson College for 12 years.[5] [12] He then taught for six years at Waimea College, where he coached the young Rod Dixon.[5] Nelson completed his teaching career at Nelson Polytechnic, retiring in 1983.[5]
Nelson remained active in athletics as a coach and official in the Nelson area.[12] He organised the athletics at the 1983 South Pacific Games in Apia, and was a track official at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.[10] He participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics torch relay when it travelled through Wellington.[5] He served two terms as president of the New Zealand Amateur Athletics Coaches' Association, and was a various times director of athletics coaching in Western Samoa, the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands.[13]
In the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours, Nelson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to athletics. In 2006, he was the inaugural inductee into the Nelson Legends of Sport gallery.[5] He was recognised as New Zealand's oldest living Olympian in 2009.[14] [15]
Nelson suffered a stroke in 1988, and in 2006 his wife, Joyce, died.[5] Nelson died at Richmond on 1 July 2011,[16] and his ashes were buried with those of his wife at Marsden Valley Cemetery.[17]
Since November 2011, an annual athletics meet at Nelson's Saxton Field has been called the Harold Nelson Classic.[18] The southern entrance to the Saxton Field athletics track was renamed Harold Nelson Way in 2012.[19]