Bill Nankeville
{{Short description|British middle-distance runner (1925–2021)}}
{{distinguish|Bill Nankivell}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Bill Nankeville
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = British (English)
| sport = Athletics
| event = middle-distance
| club = Walton AC
| birth_date = 24 March 1925
| birth_place = Guildford, England
| death_date = 8 January 2021 (aged 95)
| death_place = Laleham, England
| height =177 cm
| weight =65 kg
| medaltemplates=
{{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}}
{{MedalSport|Athletics}}
{{MedalCompetition|European Championships}}
{{MedalBronze|1950 Brussels|1500 m }}
}}
George William Nankeville (24 March 1925 – 8 January 2021) was a British middle distance athlete who won the AAA mile title four times in five years between 1948 and 1952 and ran a best recorded time of 4:08.8 in 1949. He was born in Guildford, Surrey.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/na/bill-nankeville-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418035739/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/na/bill-nankeville-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-18 |title=Bill Nankeville |accessdate=2015-07-01}}
Biography
Nankeville was born on 24 March 1925 to a working-class background and his father was a milkman.[https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/best-and-worst-bill-nankeville-8jlctqfbpdh Best & Worst: Bill Nankeville] Nankeville was a natural runner and early on didn't have any coaching but he still raced before joining an athletics club.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2020/07/25/1948-olympians-dorthy-parlett-bill-nankeville-reflect-london/|title=The 1948 Olympians: Dorothy Parlett and Bill Nankeville reflect on their London Olympics experience|date=25 July 2020|last=McElwee|first=Molly|website=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=10 January 2021}} In 1944, during World War II, he joined the army having made parachute containers and petrol tanks in Woking for three years prior. He served in Brussels, Belgium, Hamburg, Germany and took part in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.{{cite web|url=https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/legendary-miler-bill-nankeville-dies-1039939320/|title=Legendary miler Bill Nankeville dies|date=9 January 2021|last=Henderson|first=Jason|website=athleticsweekly.com|accessdate=10 January 2021}}
Following the war, Nankeville won the first of four AAA Championships mile titles at the 1948 AAA Championships{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=9 April 2025}} and he later represented Great Britain at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. He competed in the 1500 metres event and finished sixth.{{cite web|url=http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/69336|title=Bill Nankeville|website=olympedia.org|accessdate=10 January 2021}} Two years later, he finished third in the 1500 metres event at the 1950 European Athletics Championships in Brussels.
On 26 September 1951 he set a world record as part of a 4 x 800 metres relay team, that consisted of Albert Webster, Frank Evans, and John Parlett. The quartet recorded 7:30.6 at the White City Stadium.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19510927/148/0006 |title=Webster Heo of Relay Team |work=Nottingham Evening Post |date=27 September 1951 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=21 April 2025}}
At the 1952 AAA Championships, Nankeville won another British AAA mile title at the White City Stadium in London in front of a crowd of 46,000 including Queen Elizabeth II. Nankeville, Don Seaman, Roger Bannister and Chris Chataway set a world record time of 16 minutes 41 seconds for the 4x1 mile on 1 August 1953, as well as the world record 15:27.2 for the 4x1500 metres on 23 September 1953 running with Ralph Dunkley, David Law and Gordon Pirie.[http://www.gbrathletics.com/bwr.htm British World Record Breakers] Bannister ultimately broke the Four-minute mile barrier but Nankeville always got on well with him, continuing to speak until Bannister's death in 2018.
Alongside his athletic endeavours, Nankeville worked for a sports equipment manufacturer, as well as being a wholesaler and owner of three discount stores. Nankeville recorded the events leading to Roger Bannister's historic sub-four-minute mile in his book The Miracle of the Mile, published in 1956. He was married to Janet (d. 2010) for 63 years, and was the father of television impressionist Bobby Davro.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/characters_cast/cast/cast_bobby_d.shtml |title=EastEnders – Characters & Cast – Bobby Davro |publisher=BBC |accessdate=2009-04-27}} He died in January 2021 at the age of 95.[https://www.list.co.uk/article/122626-bobby-davros-father-has-died/ Bobby Davro's father has died]
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{sports links}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nankeville, Bill}}
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Category:English male middle-distance runners
Category:British male middle-distance runners
Category:European Athletics Championships medalists
Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain
Category:Sportspeople from Guildford
Category:English sportswriters
Category:British Army personnel of World War II