Arthur Postle
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Crimson Flash, The Mighty Postle, The 13th A. Postle |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born |
March 8, 1881 Springside near Beauaraba (later Pittsworth) on the Darling Downs, Queensland. |
| Died | April 21, 1965 (aged 84) Brisbane, Australia |
| Height | 5.10 ft (61.2 in) |
| Weight | 11.71 st (74.4 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
| Event(s) | Sprints |
Arthur Benjamin Postle (8 March 1881 – 21 April 1965) was an Australian professional athlete, one of the country's most renowned sprinters in the early twentieth century. Born in Queensland and becoming a professional runner in 1902, Postle rose to prominence for the defeat of Beauchamp Day – then an Irish world champion – at Kalgoorlie in Western Australia in December 1906. Known thereafter as 'The Crimson Flash' for his coloured running costume, Postle also acquired the moniker 'The Mighty Postle' for his defeat of Bill Growcott two years later in England, Growcott being England's champion runner. Postle's career took him throughout the United Kingdom and to New Zealand as well as across Australia, where he had a rivalry with fellow Australian champion Jack Donaldson.
Postle set world records for fifty, sixty, seventy-five, eighty and two-hundred yard sprints during his career, which ended in 1913 a year after his marriage to an Englishwoman. He ventured into business, and then became a farmer until full-retirement during the Second World War. He had four children who all survived him upon his death in Brisbane. Edward Seldon Sears wrote that Postle, together with Donaldson, had "few peers among sprinters of their day" and since his retirement he has been consider one of "the greatest of all Australian runners."
Postle was born in Springside near Pittsworth, in the Darling Downs of the Australian state of Queensland. Part of a large family, Postle was the second-oldest of nine children for Arthur Benjamin Postle Snr. and Frances Postle, née Honor. Postle's father was an Australian born in Melbourne, while his mother was English.
Postle was schooled at Springside State School, starting there in 1888. He showed much promise as a runner from early on in his career, and after leaving education in 1893 to work on his father's farm he continued to compete in local athletics tournaments. For one, he needed to catch an early morning train, which he missed. He nevertheless decided to walk the distance to the track, which took him all day.
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