British middle distance runner finished fourth in the 1500m at the 1964 Olympics final
Alan Simpson, one of the leading British artists of the 1960s, has died.
The 84-year-old from Rotherham narrowly missed out on a medal in the 1500m final at the 1964 Olympics as he finished fourth behind New Zealand’s Peter Snell, Czechoslovakia’s Josef Odlozil and New Zealand’s John Davies.
Simpson set British records over the 1500m, mile and 2000m and won the British one-mile title three times between 1963-65, in addition to winning the mile at the Inter-Counties four times.
He also ran for England in the International Cross Country Championships, the precursor to the World Cross.
Outside the Olympics, he finished runner-up behind Kip Keino of Kenya at the 1966 Commonwealth Games and finished fourth in the 1966 European 1500m final behind Bodo Tumler, Michel Jazzy and Harald Norpot. A prolific racer, he was known for his superb sprint finishes.
Alan Simpson (1) (Mark Shearman)
As was common at the time, Simpson worked full-time during his track and field career and occasionally traveled from Yorkshire to London to compete in the British capital.
His best times were 3:39.1 1500m, 3:55.7 mile, 5:08.0 2000m, 8:09.8 3000m, 8:43.0 two mile and 13:30.4 three mile :
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In later years he was a long-time manager of Rotherham Sports Centre.
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