Jack Morton

Jack Morton was a notable schoolboy sprinter whose entry into the senior ranks was delayed by injury for most of the 1898-99 seasons and by service in the Boer War with the Worcestershire Yeomanry. He won the AAA 100y for four successive years (1904-07) and placed second in the 220y (1907), before placing third at 100 y in 1908. He won the Midland 100 y (1906) and 220 y (1904, 1907). He was rather past his peak at the 1908 Olympics and was eliminated in the second round of the 100 and the first round of the 200. Morton showed his best form in 1904 when he equaled the world 120 y record beating 100 y world record holder and 9.6 man, Arthur Duffey (USA), at least 12 times, including a victory at the AAA Championships. Morton would undoubtedly have contended for the 1904 Olympic 100 title had he been in St. Louis. In 1905 he toured North America after the close of the English season and beat future Olympic 200 champion, Bobby Kerr, to set a Canadian All-Comers 100 y record of 9.8. Two weeks later Morton won the 100 y and 120 y hurdles at the Canadian Championships before crossing the border for his first experience of indoor competition at Madison Square Garden. After losing over 50 y to the world record holder, William Eaton, Morton won a 60-yard race in 6.6. He spent his last years as the landlord of the King’s Head Hotel in Cuckfield, Sussex.

Personal Bests: 100y – 9.5 (1905); 100 – 10.9e (1904); 220y – 22.2 (1905).