Reg Harris

Reginald Hargreaves Harris OBE (1 March 1920 – 22 June 1992) was an English track racing cyclist in the 1940s and 1950s. He won the world amateur sprint title in 1947, two Olympic silver medals in 1948 and the world professional title in 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1954. His ferocious will to win made him a household name in the 1950s, but he also surprised many with a comeback more than 20 years later, winning a British title in 1974 at the age of 54.

Early life Harris was born as Reginald Hargreaves at 7 Garden Street, Birtle, Bury, Lancashire. His mother, Elsie Hargreaves, a cotton weaver,

By the time Harris won the world amateur sprint title in Paris in 1947, he was already employed and equipped by bicycle manufacturer Claud Butler and was testing the boundaries of amateurism. The cycling world expected that Harris would take three titles in the 1948 Summer Olympics: the sprint, the tandem sprint and the kilometre time trial, but three months before the London Games, he broke two ribs in a road accident. After hospital, with a few weeks remaining to the games, training, competing and winning, he fell in a ten-mile (16 km) race at Fallowfield and fractured an elbow.

Professional career On his return from Amsterdam, Harris turned professional under sponsorship of the Raleigh bicycle company. He was paid £1 000 a year with a bonus of £100 if he won a world championship, £50 for every grand prix and £25 for every British record. In 1975, he returned to Leicester, but was narrowly beaten by Bull in the final and had to settle for the silver medal. He continued to cycle almost to his death.

Legacy

A memorial to his achievements can be found in the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.

Harris's achievements are marked annually with the Reg Harris Sportive, organised by his family and friends. The inaugural event on 25 August 2013 raised money for charities.

In popular culture, Harris is referenced in the Hancock's Half Hour episode 'The Junkman'.

Personal life He was married three times. The first two marriages (in 1944 to Florence Stage (daughter of the former Bury F.C. captain Billy Stage), then to Dorothy Hadfield) ended in divorce. He married Jennifer Anne Geary in 1970. He died in Macclesfield, Cheshire, of a stroke, survived by his third wife, and was buried at St John's Church in the north Cheshire village of Chelford.

Career achievements

Major results

Source:

1939 1st Sprint, Vi-Tonica Gold Cup

1944 National Track Championships

1945

1946 1st Sprint, Muratti Gold Cup 1st Sprint, Vi-Tonica Gold Cup

1947

National Track Championships

1948

Olympic Games

1949

1950

1951

1953

1954

1956

1974

Grand Prix Grand Prix Paris 1946, 1951, 1956

Grand Prix Copenhagen 1949 and 1954 to 1957,

Grand Prix Aarhus 1956,

Grand Prix Antwerp 1950,

Grand Prix Brussels 1954 and 1955,

Grand Prix London 1955 and 1957

Grand Prix Amsterdam 1950, 1952 and 1956

World records Source:

Discipline Record Date Velodrome Track 1 km time trial 1:09.80 23 October 1949 Vigorelli (Milan) Open air 1:08.60 26 October 1952 Open air 1:09 9 November 1952 D'Hiver (Paris) Indoor 1:08.90 12 February 1955 Westfalenhallen (Dortmund) Indoor 1:08 19 July 1957 Hallenstadion (Zürich) Indoor

Awards and honours Bidlake Memorial Prize: 1947, 1949 Daily Record Sportsman of the Year: 1949 Sports Journalists' Association Sportsman of the Year: 1950 Order of the British Empire: 1958