Nigel Barker (athlete)
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing  Australia | ||
Intercalated Games | ||
 | 1906 Athens | 100 metres |
| 1906 Athens | 400 metres |
Nigel Chase Barker (26 February 1883 – 31 July 1948) was an Australian athlete, who is regarded as holder of Australia's first athletics world record, in the 400 yards, and is an Intercalated Games bronze medalist.[1]
Barker was born in Sydney and attended Newington College (1895–1901) [2] and the University of Sydney.[3] He is described in the official Olympic history of Australia as 'an outstanding all-rounder' and he played representative rugby union for New South Wales, he was twice selected for Australia in rugby but was forced to decline on both occasions.[3] In 1904, Barker was selected for the St Louis Games, but injured an ankle playing rugby.[4]
A public subscription raised the funds for Barker to compete in Athens for the 1906 Intercalated Games,[5] at the games he competed in two events, first up was the 100 metres, in the first round he finished in second place behind American Lawson Robertson,[6] in the semi-finals he finished second again, one yard behind another American William Eaton,[7] in the final, running from lane 2, he finished in third place for the bronze medal behind another two Americans, Archie Hahn and Fay Moulton.[8] On the same day as the 100 metres final, he also competed in the 400 metres, in his first round heat he won in a time of 53 seconds and qualified for the final,[9] after a couple of days rest he finished again in bronze medal position behind Paul Pilgrim and James Lightbody.[10]
At the end of his athletic career Barker had won ten National Championship titles from 1903 to 1910.[11]
Since 2012, University of Sydney have awarded out a Nigel C Barker Medal for Sport Achievement.[12]
References
^ "Athletics Gold". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2010.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em} Retrieved 30 September 2007
^ Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 (Syd, 1999) pp9
^ ab Georgakis, Geoffrey Sherington, Steve (2008). Sydney University Sport 1852-2007 : more than a club (1st ed.). Sydney: Sydney University Press. p. 111. ISBN 9781920898915.
^ Australian Canoeing online Retrieved 30 September 2007
^ Athletics Gold Retrieved 30 September 2007
^ "Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^ "Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Semi-Finals". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^ "Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Final". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^ "Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^ "Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Final". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^ "Australian Athletics Results". athhistory.sportstg.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^ "Graduate medals recognise outstanding alumni". sydney.edu.au. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
