Chris Goudge

A 400 m runner who represented the army during his period of compulsory military service, Chris Goudge of Bolton United Harriers and Manchester University switched to hurdling at the start of the 1957 season. However at the end of 1957 it was in the flat 400 that he was chosen for the World Student Games in Paris. After showing continued improvement at the start of 1958 Goudge was selected to make his debut for Great Britain in a match against a Commonwealth select team at the White City in London in August of that year. In finishing third behind the world class South African Gert Potgieter he set a time of 51.6 seconds for the 440 y hurdles that remained his best ever time. The time stood as an English record until 1964 and a track record for White City until the late sixties. On the basis of this performance and others he was selected for both the British Empire Games, where he finished 5th for England behind Potgeiter, and the European Championships where he reached the final and finished sixth behind Yury Lituyev of the USSR. Goudge won the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) title the following year but an injury midway through the 1960 season hampered his preparation for the Rome Olympics. Although he held both the North of England and Inter-Counties titles in 1962 he was overlooked for the European Championships and his international career ended. He died in November 2010 after being ill for some time.

Personal Best: 400H – 51.6y (1958).