Eddie Webster

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Eddie Webster

| image =

| caption =

| full_name = Joseph Edward Webster

| nationality = British (English)

| birth_date = {{birth date|1902|6|15|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Rowley Regis, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|1945|8|22|1902|6|15|df=yes}}

| death_place = Italy

| height = 170 cm

| weight = 63 kg

| sport = Long-distance running

| event = 10,000 metres/steeplechase

|club = Birchfield Harriers

}}

Joseph Edward Webster also known by the name Jack Webster (15 June 1902 − 22 August 1945) was a British long-distance runner who competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/69574 |title=Eddie Webster |work=Olympedia |access-date=18 September 2021}} He was killed in a military vehicle accident during World War II.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221102015/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 February 2015 |title=Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War |access-date=24 July 2018}}

Biography

Webster competed in the men's 10,000 metres at the 1924 Olympics Games.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/we/eddie-webster-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113221925/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/we/eddie-webster-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2017 |title=Eddie Webster |access-date=12 November 2017}}

The following year, Webster became the national 10 miles champion and the national steeplechase champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1925 AAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000325/19250718/019/0007 |title=AAA Championships |work=Gloucester Citizen |date=18 July 1925 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=13 July 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003212/19250720/219/0010 |title=New Holders |work=Daily News (London) |date=20 July 1925 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=13 July 2024}} He then retained his steeplechase title and also became the national 4 miles champion at the 1926 AAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000325/19260703/038/0007 |title=AAA Championships |work=Gloucester Citizen |date=3 July 1926 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=13 July 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003212/19260705/210/0011 |title=Champion Athletes |work=Daily News (London) |date=5 July 1926 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=13 July 2024}}

Webster won a third and fourth successive steeplechase title in 1927 and 1928 in addition to regaining the 10 miles title at the 1928 AAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005049/19280707/246/0012 |title=Peltzer fails to come back |work=London Daily Chronicle |date=7 July 1928 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2025 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003213/19280709/311/0015 |title=Champions of the AAA |work=Daily News (London) |date=9 July 1928 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2025 }}

Despite being one of the leading British athletes at the time he was surprisingly left out of the British team for the 1928 Summer Olympics due to a technical difficulty.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19280711/360/0031 |title=Britain's Olympic Athletic team |work=Daily Mirror |date=11 July 1928 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2025 }} It transpired that Webster had been paid for the a photograph of him in a publication, which the AAA deemed as affecting his amateur status.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000511/19280713/074/0016 |title=Pontificial AAA |work=Exeter and Plymouth Gazette |date=13 July 1928 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2025 }}

Webster served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War and was killed in a road accident in Italy on 21 August 1945, a month before he was to be demobilised.{{CWGC|id=2604193|name=Joseph Edward Webster|access-date=5 September 2020}} He is buried at Salerno War Cemetery.