George Anderson

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameGeorge Charles•Anderson
Used nameGeorge•Anderson
Born12 June 1883 in West Ham, England (GBR)
Died31 March 1975 in Burlington, New Jersey (USA)
NOC Great Britain

Biography

A local West Ham lad, Gerald Anderson was first known to have raced competitively at the West Ham United FC sports at Canning Town in 1902. However, it was not until 1907 that he gained national recognition when, as a member of Forest CC, he won the quarter-mile at the English Amateur Championship at Exeter, beating the Italian Guglielmo Morisetti into second place by five lengths. Anderson also finished third in the one-mile championship. That same year, he also won the Diamond Jubilee Gold Plate, a half-mile scratch race, at the annual Bath CC meeting. To make it a memorable year, Anderson also won the British Empire quarter-mile title at Gosforth, and was runner-up to Ben Jones in the half-mile.

Runner-up to Ernie Payne at the Bath meeting in 1908, Anderson did lower the world record for the quarter-mile on grass from a standing start from 34 to 33 seconds. He then competed at the London Olympics, and shortly afterwards finished second to Dan Flynn in the quarter-mile at the British Empire Cycling Championships at the Belfast Oval. He was also second to Ben Jones n the half-mile again, but was on the England team that won the 10-mile team race. When Ernie Payne won the Bath Diamond Jubilee trophy for the third consecutive year in 1910, Anderson, who was now riding for Polytechnic RC, was again the runner-up.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1908 Summer Olympics Cycling Track (Cycling) GBR George Anderson
Sprint, Men (Olympic) 4 h14 r1/3

Errata

Name previously given as Gerald Anderson, but this is not supported by contemporary sources.