Barrie Kelly

At school Barrie Kelly suffered from chronic asthma and, as a result, missed a lot of his education though hospitalisation. It also meant that activities like football and running were difficult for him. He started playing football in his late teens with Bury Amateurs FC, however, and then, at the age of 22, joined Bury Athletic Club as a sprinter, like his mother, who had been a Lancashire sprint champion.

After joining Bury AC, Kelly’s rise was meteoric and he came close to selection for the 1964 Olympics, but missed the qualifying 100 metres time by 1/10th of a second on four occasions. He won the first of six Northern sprint titles in 1965 (winning it four years in succession 1965-68) and made his international début that year. Kelly went on to win 33 Great Britain vests, a record for a sprinter at the time, and also captained GB on many occasions.

Also in 1965, despite finishing second to the Cuban Olympic silver medallist Enrique Fiuguerola at the AAAs, Kelly was the champion as the leading UK athlete. He was champion again in 1966 after finishing third behind Paul Nash (South Africa) and Wieslaw Maniak (Poland) and was first over the line to win it in 1967. He also won the AAA indoor title in 1966 and 1972.

The highlight of Kelly’s career came in 1966 when he won the inaugural European Indoor Championships (then the European Indoor Games) 60 metres gold medal in 6.6 seconds, a European record that stood until lowered by Mike McFarlane in 1985. Kelly also competed at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, and the European Championships in Budapest. A second European appearance followed at Athens in 1969, and he then took part in the 1970 Commonwealth Games at Edinburgh. Kelly competed in the individual sprint and 4x100 relay at the Mexico Olympics, but failed to reach the final in both events. He was scheduled to captain the GB men’s team at the 1972 München Games, but injury ruled him out.

Kelly worked in the brewery trade for many years as a sales manager with the Watney Mann company and then the local Manchester brewery, Joseph Holts. He took up photography for a hobby and became so successful that he went on to become an award-winning wildlife photographer.

Personal Best: 100 – 10.35 (1968).