George Norman

The son of a York postman, George Norman went on to become one of Britain’s leading modern pentathletes in the 1950s. He joined the Border Regiment as a 16-year-old and after being posted to a physical training course at Aldershot, he went on to become an instructor in the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC). Around the same time Norman took to the modern pentathlon, but two years-service in West Africa at the start of his pentathlon career interfered with his training schedule.

Having finished runner-up in the 1952 British Modern Pentathlon Championships, Norman was one of the four men selected for the British team, for the Olympics that year, but missed out on a place in the three-man team to Jack Lumsdaine, John Hewitt, and Jervis Percy. Norman was a reserve for the Helsinki Games.

Norman won the British title at the fourth attempt in 1953 and the following year retained the title and then finished 12th at the World championships in Budapest. Norman also completed the double of winning the Combined Services title in 1953 and 1954, and in 1956 won both the Army Modern Pentathlon and Inter-Services titles. That year he went to the Melbourne Olympics with the British team and finished 34th out of 40 starters in the individual competition, and seventh out of 12 starters in the team event.