Frederick Kitching

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameFrederick Overend•Kitching
Used nameFrederick•Kitching
Born4 July 1886 in Cockerton, England (GBR)
Died11 August 1918 in Dunkerque (Dunkirk), Nord (FRA)
AffiliationsL.A.C., London (GBR)
NOC Great Britain

Biography

Initially a specialist in the standing jumps, Frederick Kitching became the first British athlete to show any degree of consistency in the javelin. He was the first Briton to exceed 120 ft. (36.58), 130 ft. (39.62), and 140 ft. (42.68). A solicitor by then, Kitching was runner-up in the national standing high jump championship in 1911, and in 1912 won the Olympic trial, also finishing second in the javelin. Surprisingly, it was in the standing long jump that he was selected to represent Great Britain at the 1912 Olympics. Kitching was also a very good running high jumper but it was in the javelin, at Stamford Bridge in May 1914, that he set a new British native record of 143 ft 3 in (43.66).

A devout Quaker, Kitching sought exemption from service in World War I, and this was granted on the grounds that he joined the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU), which he did in 1916. He was sent to France a few months later where he drove an ambulance, and also engaged in farming duties. On 11 August 1918 he was killed following an enemy raid that hit the headquarters of the FAU in Dunkerque. Frederick Kitching was one of seven grandsons of Alfred Kitching, builder of the famous Derwent locomotive.

Personal Best: JT – 43.66 (143-3) (1914).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1908 Summer Olympics Athletics GBR Frederick Kitching
Standing Long Jump, Men (Olympic) AC

Special Notes