Roy Cruttenden

Roy Cruttenden took up track and field athletics as a schoolboy in the mid-1930s, running sprint distances and racing the quarter-mile in addition to playing football. It was the long jump, however, in which he truly excelled, but World War II delayed his chances to compete internationally. He served with the Royal Engineers for the last year of the conflict and did not make his début for Great Britain until 1950. His most notable tournament was the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where he placed ninth, and he also took part in the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and finished fifth. Domestically, he set a Sussex record of 7.59 metres that lasted 60 years, from 1956 through 2016. He retired from active competition following this tournament and moved to Gibraltar to continue his career with the Royal Navy.

Personal Best: LJ – 7.58 (1956).