Griffiths, Cecil

Cecil Griffiths was born February 18, 1900 in Neath , Neath Port Talbot County, Wales . During the First World War he worked in the depot of the Western Great Railway , at the age of eighteen he volunteered to join the army, but soon the war ended, and he did not manage to take part in the hostilities.

While in the army, he proved to be a good runner, in particular in 1918 he won the 440-yard race at Stamford Bridge Stadium. At the end of the war, he joined the Surrey County Athletics Club and, in 1919, first performed at the UK Athletics Championships, where he finished third at 440 yards.

A year later, at similar competitions, he again became the third in the same discipline and, thanks to a series of successful performances, was awarded the right to defend the honor of the country at the Antwerp Summer Olympics - the start stage ran as part of the team, which also included John Ainsworth-Davis , Robert Lindsay and Guy Butler 4 × 400 m relay races and won a gold medal in this discipline - the British overtook all their rivals. He also planned to perform in the individual competition at 400 meters, however, due to the onset of illness, he could not go to the start, and instead Ainsworth-Davis ran this distance ^[1] .

After the Antwerp Olympics, Griffiths continued to actively participate in various competitions, together with the team of the British Empire, set the country's record in the relay 4x440 yards, became the champion of Wales in the race for 220 and 440 yards ^[2] . In 1922, he decided to compete at a distance of 880 yards and immediately set a Wales record in this discipline. In 1923 and 1925 he won the championships of Great Britain in running for 880 yards ^[3] .

He was considered among the candidates for participation in the Olympic Games in Paris , but in 1924 he was disqualified by the International Association of Athletics Federations and the Amateur Athletics Association of England, as it turned out that he had previously received cash prizes in two unaccounted for commercial races (the total amount of the award did not exceed £ ten). Having received the status of a professional, he could perform at home competitions, but from now on he was not allowed to enter the international arena, including his participation in the Olympic Games was impossible.

He remained an active athlete until 1929. During the Great Depression, he lost his job and was forced to sell all his sports trophies. Later, he still found work in a coal warehouse office in London. With the outbreak of World War II, he joined the local militia. He was married, had two sons ^{[4] [5]} .

He died on April 11, 1945 at the Ejvara Railway Station as a result of a heart failure.

• Hanna, John. Only Gold Matters: Cecil Griffiths, The Exiled Olympic Champion. - Checkered Flag Publishing, 2014 .-- ISBN 978-0-9569460-5-8 .

• Cecil Griffiths - Olympic Statistics at Sports-Reference.com