Tom Richards

Inducted 2016

Road

The first Welsh athlete to win an individual Olympic track and field medal, taking marathon silver at London 1948 at the age of 38. Won five Welsh marathon titles and continued competing until age 62.

Biography

Tom Richards (1910-1985) was born in Upper Cwmbran and became the first Welsh athlete to win an individual Olympic track and field medal — silver in the marathon at the 1948 London Olympics, at the remarkable age of 38.

Richards had moved to South London in 1936 to find work during the Depression, joining South London Harriers where he remained for the rest of his life. He won the Welsh marathon title five times, achieved a personal best of 2:29:59 at age 44, and continued competing until 1972 at the age of 62.

He also won the Welsh cross-country championship in 1951 and earned 10 Welsh international vests. He served as president of the Road Runners Club (1962-1964) and received the Welsh AAA Meritorious Plaque in 1955.