Arch Jelley, the coach behind John Walker's first sub-3:50 mile, dies at 104
New Zealand coach Arch Jelley, who guided John Walker to the world mile record and 1976 Olympic gold, has died at 104.
Photograph: New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsArch Jelley, the New Zealand coach who guided John Walker to the world mile record, died on October 24 at Bupa Glenburn after several months in hospital. He was 104. Athletics New Zealand confirmed the death at the weekend.
Jelley began coaching in 1960 at the Owairaka Harriers club in Auckland, the club Arthur Lydiard built his training group around. His best known pupil was Walker, who ran 3:49.4 for the mile in Gothenburg in 1975, the first man to break 3:50 for the distance, and went on to win the 1500m at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Jelley coached Walker through the years that followed.
His coaching career ran past fifty years. He was New Zealand's team coach at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics, team manager at the first World Championships, in Helsinki in 1983, and a national selector for 15 years. At 93 he was still guiding an Olympian, taking Hamish Carson to the 2016 Rio Games. Earlier in his career he coached Neville Scott to mile bronze at the 1966 Commonwealth Games and Barbara Moore to 10,000m bronze at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, among dozens of other runners.
He received the OBE for services to sport, and in 2021, at 98, was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his work in athletics and, separately, in competitive bridge.
Fifty years a coach, one world record, one Olympic title, and three national teams he answered for in between. That is a career, not a headline.
Sources: 1News; Athletics Illustrated.
