Alan Paterson

Alan Sinclair Paterson (11 June 1928 – 8 May 1999) was a British track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. He was one of Europe's best high jumpers during the immediate post-World War II period. He was the champion at the European Athletics Championships in 1950 and was also silver medallist at the 1946 event. He won a silver medal for Scotland at the 1950 British Empire Games.

He was a two-time Olympic finalist in the event, having competed at the 1948 London Olympics and the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. His personal best of was a British record at the time and he was a three-time champion at the AAA Championships. he rose to the top of the national scene by winning the 1946 Amateur Athletic Association junior title in before taking the senior title at the 1946 AAA Championships. He was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 1946 European Athletics Championships in August and claimed the silver medal after a personal best jump of , finishing behind Sweden's Anton Bolinder. This made the 18-year-old Paterson the youngest ever medallist at the championships.

Adegboyega Adedoyin was the winner at the national championships in 1947, Paterson was again beaten by a foreigner at the 1948 AAA championships, this time by Australian John Winter.

He won his second and third AAA national titles in 1949 and 1950.

Paterson emigrated to Canada in 1951 and ceased national competition as a result. His final international appearance came at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics at the age of twenty four. He was no longer competitive among the elite at that event and failed to clear , ending his Olympic career with 24th-place finish. Following retirement from athletics, Paterson remained in Canada and died there at the age of seventy in Port Credit, Ontario.

International competitions