Harold Whitlock

Hector Harold Whitlock (16 December 1903 – 27 December 1985) was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 50 kilometre walk. He attended Hendon School, then Hendon County School, in North London, where he planted in 1936 an oak tree sapling presented to him, along with his gold medal, by Adolf Hitler at the Olympic Games.

Whitlock won his first national title in 1933. Two years later, he set a new world record for a 30-mile walk, finishing in 4 hours, 29 minutes, 31.8 seconds. In the same year, he also became the first recorded man to walk between London and Brighton in under eight hours.

His main achievement came in 1936, where he won the gold medal in the 50 kilometre walk at the Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany, representing Great Britain, finishing in a time of 4 hours, 30 minutes, 41.4 seconds. He gained this victory despite being affected by sickness about 38 kilometres into the race. This sickness, apparently food-related, also affected his fellow British competitors Tebbs Lloyd Johnson and Joe Hopkins.

He continued to represent Britain at international level until 1952, when he came 11th at the Helsinki Olympics behind his younger brother Rex, who finished fourth. Whitlock also served as an official at those same Olympics.

He died on 27 December 1985 at the age of 82. In 2011, he was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.