| Malcolm Yardley | |
| Birth Name: | Harold Malcolm Yardley |
| Nationality: | British |
| Sport: | Sprinting |
| Event: | 400 metres |
| Birth Date: | 23 December 1940 |
| Birth Place: | Oldham, England |
Harold Malcolm Yardley (23 December 1940 - 17 March 2020)[1] [2] was a British sprinter. He competed in the men's 400 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics.[3] [4]
Yardley was born in Oldham in 1940 and was raised in Coventry.[5] During World War II, his house was destroyed during the Blitz, with his family moving to Leicester.[5] At school, he played cricket, football and rugby, but excelled at athletics.[1] In 1959, at the age of 18, Yardley made his international debut for Great Britain.[5]
At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Yardley competed in two events.[6] He was part of the British team that finished fifth in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay,[7] and the men's 400 metres, where he reached the quarter-finals.[8] The following year, along with Adrian Metcalfe, Barry Jackson and Robbie Brightwell, Yardley was part of the number-one ranked 4x400 quartet in the world.[9] However, he missed out on competing at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City due to injury.[2]
Yardley was part of the Birchfield Harriers,[10] before moving to the Blackburn Harriers,[11] and gaining selection to compete at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.[2] He competed in the men's 400 metres but did not get out of the heats.[12]
Outside of athletics, Yardley was also the captain and manager of Lowerhouse Cricket Club in Burnley.[4] He had training programmes with several local clubs in the North West of England, including Rochdale, Bury and Blackpool.[4] In the late 1960s, Yardley also set up a sports shop in Burnley, with players from the football team coming along.[1]
Yardley died in March 2020 at the age of 79, following a short illness.[1] At the time of his death, he still held the Blackburn Harriers' records in the 100, 200 and 400 metres.[1] Yardley was remembered at the In Memoriam section of the 2020 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.[13]