Harry Hill

A young motor mechanic at the time, Harry Hill had established himself as an excellent time triallist in the North of England in the early 1930s. Although born in Lancashire, he was brought up in Sheffield by his mother after his father died after contracting a disease in east Africa during World War I. The family had very little money, and when Hill was selected for the 1936 Olympics he did not have the money for his rail fare to London where he met up with his pursuit teammates, so he cycled to the Capital. Once in Berlin, the four men won a bronze medal and, on arriving home in London, the Olympic medalist faced the prospect of riding back to Sheffield on the cycle he had won his medal on. However, after 30 miles he flagged down a passing lorry and the driver took Hill all the way to his front door.

Runner-up to Ernie Mills in the tandem-paced 50-mile National Championship at Herne Hill in 1937, it was Hill’s first appearance in the event and, while Mills set a new record, Hill was also inside the old mark. Also in 1937, Hill attacked the world one hour record at the Vigorelli Velodrome in Milan and became the first man to break 25 miles (40.23 km) on an outdoor track. His final distance was 27 miles 1,134 yards (44.49 km). Hill turned professional in June 1938 and broke the British professional one-hour record in 1939. He was selected for the sprint at the World Championships that year. They were being held at the same Milano velodrome where Hill set his record two years earlier. The team travelled to Italy at the end of August, but were promptly recalled to London with the threat of war looming. The velodrome was subsequently bombed during the conflict.

During the war, Hill was moved to Barrow where he helped build submarines. After the hostilities ended, he opened a garage near Manchester, but kept on cycling and was proud that he rode every day of his life from the age of 13, when he got his first bike, until receiving a broken hip in an accident in Spain in 2002. Upon his retirement at the age of 65, Hill visited relatives in North America and spent five weeks riding the 2,500 miles from New York to Vancouver and back. At the age of 80 he covered 23.5 miles on the local velodrome, just one and a half miles short of the distance he covered when he set his world record at the age of 21. The Harry Hill Cycleway in Bury, Greater Manchester, was opened in the Olympian’s honour in 2006.