Maurice Herriott

The son of a miner from Great Wyrley, near Cannock, Staffordshire, Maurice Herriott was born just weeks after the start of World War II. The family moved to Birmingham when he was two years of age and Herriott eventually went to Moseley Secondary Modern School, which produced some fine athletes, including Olympic medallist Daphne Arden.

At school, Herriott played football for Birmingham boys, but concentrated on athletics, eventually becoming a steeplechaser and joined Sparkhill Harriers. He won the AAA junior one-mile steeplechase in 1957 and 1958, and held the Midlands title every year between 1961-68. Herriott won his first senior AAA title in 1959, and after finishing fourth in 1960 was champion for the next seven years from 1961-67.

Not only did Herriott miss out on retaining his AAA title in 1960, but his year was made worse when he missed out on an Olympic place due to an unfortunate accident at the Brutish Games, which were acting as a final selection for the Rome Games. During the steeplechase, a runner in front of him knocked down the hurdle, which caused Herriott to fall. He never made up the lost ground and failed to get an Olympic call up.

Herriott won the silver medal behind Australia´s Trevor Vincent, however, at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Perth, Australia. That same year Herriott competed in the European Championships at Beograd (Belgrade) but had to scratch from the final after damaging his knee in his heat. Herriott eventually went to the Olympics at Tokyo in 1964 and won the silver medal behind the legendary Belgian Gaston Roelents. Herriott broke the British record six times in total, including twice at those Olympics, and was, for half-an-hour, the Olympic record holder after running 8:33.0 in his heat. Herriott raced against Roelents many times but never beat him. After the Tokyo race, the two men enjoyed a beer together and the Belgian gave Herriott his Olympic vest and said to him: “Have a look at the front, as you’ve only seen the back”.

Herriott was voted British Male Athlete of the Year in 1963 and 1965, and went to his second Commonwealth Games at Kingston, Jamaica in 1966 but finished fourth. Herriot wound up his international career after finishing eighth in his heat at the Mexico Olympics. Herriott, who worked as an engineer at Birmingham Small Arms (BSA), went to live in the Isle of Man with his Manx-born wife Marina in the early 1970s. He crewed a deep-sea trawler for 14 years before becoming the manager of a re-cycling plant on the island.

Personal Best: 3000S – 8:32.4 (1964).