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Just who was Emsley Carr?
Steven LynchApril 28, 2014
I remember when I was younger watching Steve Ovett and Seb Coe winning a race called the Emsley Carr Mile. Does it still take place? And who was Emsley Carr?! asked Terry Chalmers
The Emsley Carr Mile was first contested in 1953, when it was won by Gordon Pirie. It was founded in memory of Sir Emsley Carr, a former editor of the News of the World newspaper, who had died in 1941.
The race does still take place, although it's probably somewhat lower-profile than in the days of Sebastian Coe (who won in 1977 and 1983) and Steve Ovett (1979). In 2013 it was held for the first time at the London Olympic Stadium, and was won by Kenya's Augustine Choge.
The British runner Ken Wood won the Emsley Carr Mile a record four times, all in the 1950s. More recently the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, a double Olympic champion in Athens in 2004, completed a hat-trick of victories between 2000 and 2002. Nine other Olympic champions have won the race over the years. The last British winner was Michael East, in 2005.
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