One of our greatest athletes, Berlin Olympic gold medallist Jack Lovelock led a remarkably full life before his tragic death in 1949, just a few days shy of his 40th birthday.
Jack Lovelock
Personal details
Full Name:
John Edward Lovelock
Lifetime:
5 Jan 1910 – 28 Dec 1949
Biography
Events In History
6 August 1936
Jack Lovelock won New Zealand’s first Olympic athletics gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in a race witnessed by 120,000 spectators – including Adolf Hitler.
15 June 1935
The Ivy League Princeton University hosted an annual elite mile race during the 1930s. New Zealand medical student Jack Lovelock, who had set a world record there in 1933, was invited to return in 1935 to run in what became known as the ‘Mile of the Century’.
15 July 1933
Jack Lovelock's run at Princeton University broke Jules Ladoumegue’s record for the mile by 1.6 seconds. The race was dubbed the 'greatest mile of all time' by Time Magazine.
Main image: Jack Lovelock winning at Berlin Olympics
Photograph from Jack Lovelock's albums showing his victory at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
