John Cooper had success as a triple jumper during his schooldays and did not take up hurdling until 1960. He made steady if not spectacular progress in the early days of the hurdling career but by 1963 he had moved into world class by breaking the 51-second barrier. A further improvement occurred at the Tokyo Olympics and he set national records on all of his three appearances over the hurdles which culminated in a silver medal winning performances behind America’s Rex Cawley. Sadly for Cooper he was never able to capitalize on his Tokyo exploits as injuries dogged his career from then on. He did recover well enough to reach the semi-finals in Mexico City but retired from the sport the following year. Cooper was then recruited by the clothing firm adidas to work as a marketing director. In this capacity he was returning from Paris to London following the annual France-England rugby match when he was killed in the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 which, at the time, was the world’s deadliest air disaster.
Personal Bests: 400 – 47.6 (1964); 400H – 50.1 (1964).
Great Britain