Charles Herbert

Charles Herbert was Secretary of the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) from 1883-1906 and was an original member of the IOC. He attended the 1894 Sorbonne Congress and helped Pierre de Coubertin organize it. Born in India where his father was serving in the Army, Herbert was sent to England for his studies only to be given the horrific news that both of his parents, his brother and sisters, were massacred in the Cawnpore Uprising during the Indian Mutiny in June 1857.

Herbert was both a fine rower and middle-distance runner. He won the Silver Goblets at the Henley Regatta in 1875, partnered by W. Chillingworth, and was the half-mile and one mile champion of the Civil Service. In 1906 Herbert sustained significant brain injuries after a fall from the top of a London omnibus, which caused him to retire from both the IOC and the AAA.