After an impressive Olympic debut at the Melbourne Games where he finished 5th in the 20 km walk, Stan Vickers went on become the outstanding British walker over that distance in 1957 and 1958. He won the RWA 10 miles in 1957-58, the RWA 20 miles in 1960, and was AAA champion at 2 miles, 7 miles, and 10 miles in 1957-58, also winning the 2 mile title in 1960. The high point of his career came at the 1958 European Championships where he scored a comprehensive victory over Leonid Spirin, beating the Olympic champion by over a minute. The continually improving Ken Matthews rather overshadowed him at domestic level in the run up to the Rome Olympics but, with Matthews struggling in the Italian heat, Vickers emerged as the main British threat and finished with a late flourish to win the bronze behind Volodymyr Holubnychiy. On his return from Rome Vickers, who worked at the London Stock Exchange, had the unusual honour of being carried on the shoulders of his fellow workers around the trading floor.
Personal Best: 10kW - 43:43.6 (1960); 20kmW – 1-28:53 (1959).
Great Britain