Mike Wheeler

Mike Wheeler was educated at Taunton School where he excelled at both athletics and as a rugby three-quarter. In 1952 he won the schools 440 yards title at the White City in 51.1 and, the following year, not only did Wheeler retain the title in a record 50.0, but he also won the 100 yards title in 10.3. He joined the London AC in 1954 before moving to the Bournemouth AC the following year. Representative honours followed for the AAAs and Great Britain, and in the match against the Soviet Union at Moskva in 1955 he pushed the European record holder Ardalion Ignatyev all the way in finishing second in the 400 metres in a personal best 47.4, which was the fastest time over the distance by a Briton that year. Also in 1955 in the match against Czechoslovakia at Praha, Wheeler was timed at 45.9 for the 400 but it was later discovered the runners only completed 390 metres.

Wheeler was runner-up in the 1955 AAAs 440 yards to Peter Fryer, the three-time winner of the title, despite recording the same time (47.7) as the winner. The following year, Wheeler again ran 47.7, but this time captured the title from second-placed Peter Higgins. Also in 1956, Wheeler set an English record 9.8 in winning the Hampshire 100 yards title. He went to the Olympic Games at Melbourne and returned home with a bronze medal from the 4x400 metres relay. Less than 10 days later he announced his retirement from athletics to concentrate on his teaching career and play rugby for Bournemouth. Nine years later, however, he made the decision to return to athletics and was winning races again beyond the age of 30.

Personal Best: 400 – 47.4 (1955).