Sir Christopher Chataway | |
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Christopher Chataway in November 1972
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Member of Parliament for Lewisham North |
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In office 8 October 1959 – 31 March 1966 |
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Preceded by | Niall MacDermot |
Succeeded by | Roland Moyle |
Member of Parliament for Chichester |
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In office 22 May 1969 – 20 September 1974 |
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Preceded by | Walter Loveys |
Succeeded by | Anthony Nelson |
Personal details | |
Born |
Chelsea, London |
31 January 1931
Died | 19 January 2014 London |
(aged 82)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater |
Sherborne School; Magdalen College, Oxford |
Profession | Politician, Athlete, Broadcaster |
Medal record | ||
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Men's Athletics | ||
Representing England and Great Britain | ||
Commonwealth Games | ||
1954 Vancouver | 3 miles | |
European Championships | ||
1954 Bern | 5000 metres |
Sir Christopher John Chataway (31 January 1931 – 19 January 2014), often known as Chris Chataway, was a British middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and Conservative politician.
Born in Chelsea, London, Chataway spent his childhood in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, as his father was a member of the Sudan Political Service. He was educated at Sherborne School - where he excelled at rugby, boxing and gymnastics but did not win a race until he was 16 - and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained a philosophy, politics and economics degree, but his studies were overshadowed by his success on the athletics track as a long-distance runner.
Chataway had a short but distinguished athletics career. At the Helsinki Olympic Games of 1952, in the 5000 metres final, after being passed on the last bend by the Czech long distance runner, Emil Zátopek, France's Alain Mimoun, and West Germany's Herbert Schade, Chataway's foot brushed the curb and he crashed headlong to the ground. Chataway managed to finish the race in fifth place. On leaving university he took an executive job with Guinness. When Sir Hugh Beaver of Guinness came up with the idea for the Guinness Book of Records, it was Chataway who suggested his old university friends Norris and Ross McWhirter as editors, knowing of their liking for facts.