Herb Elliott
Herb Elliott was one of the greatest runners of all times in the so-called middle-distance races, especially in the mile and the 1500m.
He was born in February 1938 near Perth, Australia. He began practising sport in his adolescent years and soon excelled in domestic organizations. His trainer was Percy Cerutty, who was known for the rigorous training programme he applied on his athletes but also for the careful scientific support methods. Many times the daily preparation programme of Elliott, who was still an adolescent, included ascending and descending hills and running distances of many kilometres. In addition, his diet was systematically watched. Therefore, it was a matter of time before the positive results would become apparent. At the age of 18, Elliott achieved a new teenage world record in the mile. From then and until the Olympic Games of 1960, he broke many times the world record in the above event and in the 1500m. At the same time, he became champion of his country and won the mile and the 880 yards in the Commonwealth Games in 1958.
The most important race of his life took place in the Olympic Stadium of Rome, in 1960. He participated in the 1500m event, which he won quite easily, and even achieved a new world record (3.35.6), which was broken several years later. Nevertheless, the athletic career of the Australian champion was not to last much longer. In 1962, two years after the Olympic organization of Italy, when he was only 24 years old, he retired from the track for reasons which he kept to himself. Although Elliott became first Olympic winner only once, he is regarded as one of the greatest middle-distance runners worldwide on the basis of his performances and many victories. It is characteristic that from the age of 14 and until he gave up competitive sport, that is for ten years, he had never lost a game.

 

The Olympic Games in Antiquity:
From ancient Olympia to Athens of 1896