James Halliday (weightlifter)
{{Short description|British weightlifter (1918–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| headercolor =
| name = James Halliday
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| fullname =
| nickname =
| nationality = {{ENG}}
| citizenship =
| residence =
| birth_date = 19 January 1918
| birth_place = Farnworth, Lancashire
| death_date = 6 June 2007 (aged 89)
| death_place =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| website =
| country =
| sport =
| event =
| league =
| league_type =
| employer =
| agent =
| height =
| weight =
| universityteam =
| club =
| turnedpro =
| partner =
| former_partner =
| coach =
| coaching =
| retired =
| worlds =
| regionals =
| nationals =
| olympics =
| paralympics =
| highestranking =
| pb =
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Weightlifting}}
{{MedalCountry | {{GBR}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}}
{{MedalBronze | 1948 London | Lightweight}}
{{MedalCountry | {{ENG}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|British Empire Games}}
{{MedalGold| 1950 Auckland|-67.5kg}}
{{MedalGold| 1954 Vancouver|-75kg}}
}}
James "Jumping Jim" Halliday (19 January 1918 – 6 June 2007) was a weightlifter from Great Britain.
Weightlifting career
He competed for Great Britain in the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London, United Kingdom in the lightweight event where he finished third behind the winner, the outstanding Egyptian lifter Ibrahim Shams.{{cite web|url=http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ha/jim-halliday-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903015441/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ha/jim-halliday-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-09-03|title=Profile|publisher=Sports reference.com}}
He represented England and won a gold medal in the -67.5 kg division at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand.{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/55396|title=Athletes and results|publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation}}{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/auckland-1950/athletes|title=1950 Athletes|publisher=Team England}} Four years later he repeated the feat by winning another gold medal at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada.
Personal life
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2021}}
Halliday's participation was remarkable as he had been a prisoner of war in the Far East from 1942 to 1945 having been captured when Singapore fell to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. During his imprisonment, he managed to lift a barbell (which had been made from wood) over his head, something which the other British prisoners (or the Japanese guards) could not manage. As a result of this, the Japanese commander cut the British prisoners' food rations as he believed they were getting too strong. He had weighed little more than 6 stone (38 kg) after three years as a PoW, including working on the Burma Railway. Halliday subsequently won two British Empire titles in 1950 and 1954.
He worked on the coal gang at Kearsley Power Station and later became the Electricity Board's chief safety officer, travelling around the country lecturing men on how to lift heavy bags or dig holes.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, James}}
Category:English male weightlifters
Category:Olympic weightlifters for Great Britain
Category:Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
Category:Weightlifters at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Category:Weightlifters at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
Category:Weightlifters at the 1950 British Empire Games
Category:Weightlifters at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Category:Sportspeople from Farnworth
Category:Olympic medalists in weightlifting
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:British World War II prisoners of war
Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
Category:Burma Railway prisoners
Category:Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Category:Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting
Category:Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games
Category:Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Category:20th-century English sportsmen
{{UK-Olympic-medalist-stub}}
{{UK-weightlifting-bio-stub}}