Basil Heatley

[2] As a 14-year-old boy, he read about the 1948 Summer Olympics that were taking place in London, and was inspired by Czechoslovakian long-distance runner Emil Zátopek whose performance made a lasting impression on him.[5] He also represented Warwickshire at the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships during this period, winning the title in 1959 and taking second place in 1960.[3][7][8] On 15 April 1961, in the AAA Championships at Hurlingham Park in London, he broke his hero Zátopek's world record for the 10-mile run, with a time of 47 minutes and 47 seconds.[2] His first outing was at the 1963 AAA marathon in Coventry, which he used as a dummy run to test his potential,[2] but he finished the race in second place to clubmate Brian Kilby with a time of 2:19:56.[3][4] In October of the same year, encouraged by his success in the AAA, he took part in the Košice Peace Marathon in Slovakia, and took fourth place with 2:20:22.[3][5] Four minutes after Bikila had won the race, Tsuburaya entered the stadium in second place in front of a cheering home crowd, but he was running out of strength.[4] Heatley was the fourth Briton to win silver in the Olympic marathon (after Sam Ferris in 1932, Ernie Harper in 1936 and Tom Richards in 1948),[3] and although Charlie Spedding took the bronze medal in Los Angeles twenty years later, no Briton has won a silver medal in the Olympic marathon since Heatley's achievement in 1964.[5] He continued to compete in the Third Division of the Birmingham League for several years after his international retirement and remained closely involved with the sport into later life.
Kenilworth, WarwickshireGreat BritainOlympic Games1964 TokyoMarathonlong-distance runnerOlympic marathoncross country runningEnglish National Cross Country titleInternational Cross Country Championshipsworld recordbroke the record for the world's fastest marathonsilver medal1964 Tokyo OlympicsAbebe Bikilagold medalCoventryWarwickshireWest MidlandsathleticsGuy Butler1948 Summer OlympicsEmil Zátopekgrammar schoolNational ServiceRoyal Army Veterinary CorpscorporalCoventry Godiva HarriersEngland Cross CountryEnglish National Cross Country ChampionshipsPeterboroughWest BromwichParliament Hill Fieldshat-trickCambridgeBlackpoolIAAF World Cross Country Championships1957 International CrossFrank Sando1961 International CrossNantesAAA ChampionshipsHurlingham ParkBrian KilbyKošice Peace MarathonSlovakiapersonal bestsPolytechnic MarathonWindsorChiswickBuddy EdelenTokyo OlympicsKōkichi TsuburayaOlympic stadiumSam FerrisErnie HarperTom RichardsCharlie SpeddingLos AngelesEngland Athletics Hall of FameHilton MetropoleDavid MoorcroftUK AthleticsAthletics WeeklyMallon, BillSports Reference LLCEnglish Cross Country AssociationOlympics.comLeonard EdelenMen's Marathon World Record HolderSid RobinsonAlfred ShrubbArthur RobertsonJean BouinAlfred NicholsJames WilsonWally FreemanJoseph GuillemotJoe BlewittJack WebsterTom EvensonJack HoldenRaphaël PujazonJohn DomsAlain MimounLucien TheysGeoff SaundersFranjo MihalićStan EldonFrederick NorrisRhadi Ben AbdesselamGaston RoelantsRoy FowlerFrancisco AritmendiJean FayolleBen Assou El GhaziMohammed GammoudiMike TaggDavid Bedford