Dave Leech
{{short description|New Zealand hammer thrower}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name = Dave Leech
|full_name = David Dower Leech
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|03|09|df=y}}
|birth_place =
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|10|21|1927|03|09|df=y}}
|death_place = Christchurch, New Zealand
|country = New Zealand
|sport = Track and field
|nationals = Hammer throw champion (1952, 1962, 1964, 1965)
|show-medals=yes
|medaltemplates= {{Medal|Sport | Men's Masters athletics}}
{{Medal|Country | {{NZL}} }}
{{Medal|Competition|World Masters Athletics Championships}}
{{Medal|Bronze|1997 Durban|M70 Hammer throw}}
}}
David Dower Leech (9 March 1927 – 21 October 2017) was a New Zealand hammer thrower and athletics official. He represented his country at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1997, he won a World Masters hammer throw title in the M70 category.
Early life and family
Leech was born on 9 March 1927.{{cite web |url=https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Ddeaths |title=Death search: registration number 2017/30128 |website=Births, deaths & marriages online |publisher=Department of Internal Affairs |access-date=13 August 2022}} He married his wife, Patricia Elizabeth, in the 1950s.
Athletics
=National competition=
Leech won his first national hammer throw championship in 1952, with a distance of {{convert|142|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.anzrankings.org.nz/userfiles/file/National_Champions.pdf |title=National champions 1887–2019 |date=October 2019 |publisher=Athletics New Zealand |access-date=13 August 2022 | first=Stephen | last=Hollings |page=38}} It was another 10 years before he won a second national, with a best throw of {{convert|169|ft|1/2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} in 1962. He went on to win the national title on four occasions in all, with successive victories in 1964 and 1965. His best winning throw was {{convert|177|ft|6|in|m|2|abbr=on}} in 1964, when he became the first New Zealander to achieve a distance of over 54 metres.
=International competition=
At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Leech represented New Zealand in the hammer throw.{{cite web |url=https://olympic.org.nz/athletes/dave-leech |title=Dave Leech |year=2022 |publisher=New Zealand Olympic Committee |access-date=13 August 2022}} He finished in seventh place with a best throw of {{convert|166|ft|5+1/2|in|m|2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=https://thecgf.com/results/games/3035/event/1470 |title=Athletics hammer throw – men Perth 1962 |year=2020 |publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation |access-date=13 August 2022}}
=Masters athletics=
Leech went on to be active in Masters athletics. Between 1976 and 2014, he won 20 age-group titles in the hammer throw at New Zealand Masters championships, and he won a world Masters hammer throw bronze medal in the M70 category at the 1997 World Veterans Athletics Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/athletics-nz-weekly-roundup-24-october-2017/EMEFTUYHHT5TRFSKATOV4B6F64/ |title=Athletics NZ weekly roundup |date=24 October 2017 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=13 August 2022}}
=Management=
At the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, Carr was a New Zealand's athletics section assistant manager,{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19730905.2.153 |title=Coach for Games |date=5 September 1973 |work=The Press |volume=113 |issue=33322 |page=16 |access-date=13 August 2022}} and two years later he was the athletics section manager for the New Zealand team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19760413.2.242 |title=42 will have costs met |date=13 April 1976 |work=The Press |volume=116 |issue=34127 |page=38 |access-date=13 August 2022}} He received a merit award from Athletics New Zealand in 1988, and was awarded life membership of Athletics Canterbury in 1988.
Death
Leech died in Christchurch on 21 October 2017.{{cite news |url=https://deaths.press.co.nz/nz/obituaries/the-press-nz/name/david-leech-obituary?pid=187073585 |title=David Leech obituary |date=28 October 2017 |work=The Press |access-date=13 August 2022}} His wife, Pat, died in 2021.{{cite news |url=https://deaths.press.co.nz/nz/obituaries/the-press-nz/name/patricia-leech-obituary?n=patricia-leech&pid=198231967 |title=Patricia Leech obituary |date=3 April 2021 |work=The Press |access-date=13 August 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{1962 New Zealand British Empire and Commonwealth Games team}}
{{Footer New Zealand NC hammer throw men}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leech, Dave}}
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Category:Commonwealth Games athletes for New Zealand
Category:New Zealand male hammer throwers
Category:New Zealand sports executives and administrators