Cambridge University

Not surprisingly, Cambridge University has been responsible for producing a large number of the county’s Olympic competitors.

The photograph below appears in an album of Cambridge University Athletes, 1909-1939.

Guy Butler, pictured second row second from left,  winner of gold and silver medals in the 1920 Olympics and John Ainsworth-Davis, front row first on left, winner of a gold in the 4 x 400 m relay. (Cambridgeshire Archives:R81/105)

Grantchester's sporting heroes

This next  photograph appears in a scrapbook deposited with the parish records of Grantchester and shows three 1936 Olympic hopefuls who had connections with the village.

From left to right: Peter Ward; Ran Laurie, father of the actor and comedian Hugh and John Winter. (Cambridgeshire Archives P79/2/3)

W.G.M. Laurie, or 'Ran' as he came to be known, was born in Grantchester in 1915. He took up rowing at school and as a student at Selwyn College he participated in three University Boat Races between 1934 and 1936, all of which were won by Cambridge. It was during this period he met Jack Wilson, a student at Pembroke, who was to be his rowing partner for years to come. 

Ran first competed in the Olympics in 1936 only narrowly missing out on a medal. 12 years later, however, he and Wilson rowed to victory in the coxless pairs at the 1948 London Olympics.

Peter Ward, a scientific instrument maker who lived at the Old Vicarage, Grantchester came 11th in the men’s 5000 metres at the 1936 Olympics.

Finally, John Winter, who studied at Trinity College, lost out in the Olympic trials to his team mate Peter Scott , future founder of the World Wildlife Fund, who went on to win a Bronze in the dinghy sailing.

Olympic runners at Histon

Following the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the 29th Histon and Impington Horticultural Society and Amateur Athletic Union Show was host to three medal-winning athletes: Jackson Scholz of the USA, first man to reach the sprint final in three different Olympics; C. Coaffe of the Canadian Olympic Team and William Nicholl, silver medalist for Great Britain in the 4 by 100 metre relay alongside Harold Abrahams.

Jackson Scholz winning the 100 yards race at Histon in 1924. (Cambridgeshire Collection: 04/8/34-35)

Did you know?

• In 1908 the gold medal for racquets, an indoor game similar to squash, was won by E. B. Noel of Cambridge University. It should be noted however that no country other than Great Britain entered any competitors for this sport!
• The 1948 Olympics were opened on 29 July by King George VI. The torch was brought into Wembley stadium by J.W.E.Mark, a former Cambridge Blue and runner of the quarter mile distance, "who appeared amid the loudest cheers of the afternoon, many of the athletes on parade breaking their ranks and running to the trackside to watch him circle the arena" (The Times, 30 July 1948 page 5).
• The GB rowing crew in the Eights was comprised totally of Cambridge undergraduates; sadly they lost to USA in the final.
• Max Woosnam, considered one of this country's greatest sporting all-rounders,  represented Cambridge University at cricket, lawn tennis and real tennis (as well as captaining the association football team) and won an Olympic gold in the tennis men's doubles in 1920.
• Eric Bevan, Olympic rowing gold medallist in the mens coxless fours in 1928 shared a medical practice in Cambridge with Rex Woods, who competed in the shot put at both the 1924 and 1928 games.
• Humphrey Warren, who was local to the St. Ives area, competed in the men's single sculls at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
• Albert Tebbit of Huntingdonshire, four times British amateur skating champion, competed in the first ever Winter Olympics at Chamonix in 1924. He came 20th in the 5000 meters.