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July 2012: Photograph of Jack Archer, Nottingham Olympic Medallist, 1948

User AvatarPosted by Archives at 10/07/2012 14:43:06
Photograph of Jack Archer, Nottingham Olympic Medallist, 1948
 

Reference: S/BX/282/58

As we look forward to the 2012 London Olympics, Nottinghamshire Archives has uncovered the dramatic story of Olympian Jack Archer in the scrapbooks of High Pavement School (S/BX/282/28/1).

Archer, a former pupil at the school, was an international sprinter who represented Great Britain in the 400m relay at the London Olympics in 1948. During the race the US team was adjudged to have run outside their lane and disqualified, so Great Britain was awarded the Gold Medal. This would have been Great Britain’s only Athletics Gold of the games. However, the following day the US were reinstated as the winners and Jack Archer and his team mates had to hand over their medals to the Americans, receiving the Silver from the Italians.

Pictured here is Jack Archer in his Olympic vest.

[ Comments - 1 ]

Comments

  • At 11:31 on 19/07/2012,
    Tony Whelpton wrote:
    I was a pupil at High Pavement 1944 to 1951, and I remember Jack Archer well. First of all, his name figured prominently on the Athletics records boards which were affixed to the wall of the school hall; he was a member of Basford House, as I was. Then, in 1946, while he was doing a period of teaching practice at High Pavement (he was a PE student at Loughborough at the time), he became European sprint champion. The following year we had another PE student doing teaching practice: he was none other than the rugby player Ken Jones, also a member of the 1948 Olympics silver-medal-winning sprint relay team, who also played wing three-quarter for Wales for many years.

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