Barry Magee
Abebe Bikila and Barry Magee at the 1960 Olympics
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| Personal information | ||||||||||
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| Birth name | Arthur Barry Magee | |||||||||
| Nationality |
 New Zealand
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| Born |
6 February 1934 New Plymouth, New Zealand |
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| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||
| Weight | 53 kg (117 lb) | |||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||
| Event(s) | 5000 m, 10,000 m, marathon | |||||||||
| Club | Three Kings Athletic Club, Auckland | |||||||||
| Coached by | Gil Edwards Arthur Lydiard |
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| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 5000 m – 13:39.2 (1961) 10,000 m – 28:50.8 (1961) Marathon – 2:17:19 (1960) |
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Medal record
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Arthur Barry Magee MNZM (born 6 February 1934) is a retired New Zealand long-distance runner. He won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1960 Olympics and in the 10,000 m event placed 26th at the 1960 and 23rd at the 1964 games. He withdrew from the 1964 Olympic marathon due to an injury.
Magee was one of the large group of athletes that New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard used to revolutionise how the world trained for all sports. At the 1960 Olympic Games Lydiard's pupils and Magee's training partners, Murray Halberg and Peter Snell won gold medals over 5000 m and 800 m within one hour. Magee's bronze in the marathon confirmed Lydiard's training methods. Magee's run in Rome made him the fastest white marathon runner of all time to that moment. He went on to win many major international races, including the 1960 Fukuoka Marathon. But Magee was much more than a marathon runner; he also ran the world's third fastest time over 3miles and fifth fastest 5000 m at that time. He also recorded the world's fastest 10,000 m and 2nd fastest 5000 m for 1961 and was part of New Zealand's 4 × 1 mile world record breaking relay team in 1961.
Magee always attributed his success to Lydiard, who had become something of a father figure after Magee's own father died in the same year that Lydiard started coaching him. After retiring from international competition Magee coached several top runners himself.
In the 2002 Queen's Birthday Honours, Magee was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to sport.
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