Bill Roberts (athlete)

Bill Roberts

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	5 April 1911 Salford, England
Died	5 December 2001 (aged 60) Timperley, England
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	400m/440y
Club	Salford Harriers
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 1936 Berlin 4×400 metres European Athletics Championships 1946 Oslo 4x400 metres Representing  England British Empire Games 1938 Sydney 440 yards 1934 London 440 yards 1938 Sydney 4×440 yards

William Roberts (5 April 1912 – 5 December 2001) was an English sprinter and winner of gold medal in 4x400 m relay for Great Britain at the 1936 Summer Olympics.[1]

Biography

Born in Salford, Lancashire, Roberts competed for England at the 1934 British Empire Games, finishing second in 440 yd (400 m) behind Godfrey Rampling. .[2] The following year, Roberts became the national 440 yards champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1935 AAA Championships.[3][4][5]

At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Roberts just missed the medal in the individual 400-metre event, finishing fourth in the final, and ran the third leg in the gold medal-winning British 4x400 m relay team.[6]

Roberts won another 440 yards AAA title at the 1937 AAA Championships[7][8] and then Roberts turned Empire Games silver into the gold medal at the next British Empire Games in 1938 in Sydney, Australia. He also won a silver in 4x440 yd relay event and finished sixth in the 220 yards contest.[9]

After World War II and service in the RAF, Roberts returned to athletics to win the silver medal as a member of British 4x400 m relay team at the 1946 European Championships.

At the 1948 Summer Olympics, Roberts was chosen as Great Britain's athletics team captain, but he was eliminated in the heats of the 400-metre event and anchored the British relay team to a fourth place in their heat of the 4×400-metre competition.

After his retirement from athletics in 1949, he worked as a columnist for the Manchester Evening News. William Roberts died in Timperley, Manchester, aged 89.

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Great Britain
1948	Olympics	London, United Kingdom	4th, Heat 2, Round 2	400 m	48.6

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bill Roberts". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
2. "London 1934 Team". Team England. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
3. "AAA titles". Daily Herald. 13 July 1935. Retrieved 16 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Why Lovelock lost his title". Daily Herald. 15 July 1935. Retrieved 16 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
6. "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
7. "The Athletic Championships". Liverpool Daily Post. 17 July 1937. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Six records go by the board at White City". Evening Despatch. 19 July 1937. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Sydney 1938 Team". Team England. Retrieved 16 January 2025.

External links

• William Roberts at Olympics.com