Harold Nelson

Athletics Coached by Bernie McKernan, Nelson first came to national prominence as an athlete when he won the under-19 one-mile title at the New Zealand junior championships in 1941, in a national junior record time of 4:30.0. Following an accident while serving with the RNZAF, Nelson was invalided home and he feared that he may never run again.

Nelson was subsequently selected as team captain and flagbearer for the New Zealand team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. He also competed in the 3 miles, winning the silver medal with a time of 14:28.8, behind Englishman Len Eyre.

In the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours, Nelson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to athletics. In 2006, he was the inaugural inductee into the Nelson Legends of Sport gallery.

Nelson suffered a stroke in 1988, and in 2006 his wife, Joyce, died. and his ashes were buried with those of his wife at Marsden Valley Cemetery.

Legacy Since November 2011, an annual athletics meet at Nelson's Saxton Field has been called the Harold Nelson Classic. The southern entrance to the Saxton Field athletics track was renamed Harold Nelson Way in 2012.