In the 400m hurdles final at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, David Hemery did not so much beat but obliterate the field. It was an inspired performance in which the British runner set a world record time of 48.12 which 32 years on would probably still be enough to earn a place in an Olympic final.
SPORT BIO
He was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but his father's work took the family to the United States, where David Hemery attended school and won a NCAA championships in 400 m hurdles in 1968. He gained a Masters from Harvard University in 1972.
Hemery's first International title came at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, where he won the 120 yd hurdles in 14.1, a title he retained four years later at 1970 Commonwealth Games(it was by then the 110 m hurdles) which he won with 13.8.
At the Mexico Olympics in 1968, Hemery won the 400 m hurdles in 48.12, and produced one of the most explosive victories at this level, creating a brilliant new world record. His margin of victory was the largest since 1924, beating second-placed Gerhard Hennige from West Germany by almost a second. Hemery's winning performance inspired the British public to vote him BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 1968.
In 1969, Hemery won a silver at the European Championships in 110 m hurdles, but missed the next European Championships in 1971 due the injury. At the 1972 Summer Olympics, Hemery finished third after John Akii-Bua from Uganda and Ralph Mann from United States. He was also a member of silver winning British 4x400 m relay team.
After his running career, Hemery worked as a coach in United States and Great Britain. In 1969 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Hemery won the first ever British Superstars competition, held in 1973. He again triumphed in 1976.
Since his return to the UK in 1983 he has he has spent most of his time teaching coaching and mentoring skills to business managers and sport coaches. In 1998, he was elected as the first president of UK Athletics. For a period in the 1970s he taught at the famous English sports school Millfield.
Currently Vice Chairman of the British Olympic Association and Chairman of the Confederation of British Sport, he is working with Lords Sebastian Coe and Colin Moynihan on the UK wide Sporting Legacy that can result from the 2012 London Olympic win.
SPECIALIST AREAS
Most of David Hemery's work involves running development workshops for future leaders in business, government and sport.
His greatest interest is in developing coaching/mentoring skills followed by self-managed or strategic leadership. These are usually followed by sustainability days.
David Hemery's 2012 sporting legacy intent is to train trainers from the corporate and sport sectors who can develop the profession of coaching within sport in the UK. This will include the workshops.
He does a certain amount of executive coaching and also corporate talks. The theme of the talks is often ‘How to bring the best out of ourselves and others’, and are intended to be challenging, inspirational and informative.
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