Roger Graham Hackney (born 2 September 1957) is a Welsh former long-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He represented Great Britain in three Olympic Games and won a silver medal for Wales at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Roger Graham Hackney | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Welsh | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 September 1957 Swansea, Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country |  Great Britain Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Aldershot, Farnham & District AC Farnborough Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography edit
Hackney, who was a member of the Royal Air Force, and trained at Aldershot, Farnham and District AC, specialised in the 3000m steeplechase. He made his Olympics debut as a 22-year old at the 1980 Moscow Games and was seventh in his semi-final, only just missing out on a spot in the final, with the next best time of the competitors that missed out.[1]
At the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Hackney came fifth in the final of the steeplechase.[2]
His best performance in the Olympics came at the 1984 Los Angeles Games where he ran the semi-final in 8:20.77 and qualified for the final, in which he finished 10th.[3]
He won a silver medal representing Wales in the steeplechase at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, in a time of 8:25.15, behind Canada's Graeme Fell and ahead of Colin Reitz, another British athlete.[4] The field was weakened by the absence of many African countries, most notably Kenya, which boycotted the competition over the Thatcher government's sporting links with apartheid South Africa.[5] In 1986 he was also eighth at the European Championships.[2]
He was part of the Great British Olympic team for a third and final time at the 1988 Seoul Games. By then aged 31, Hackney once more made it to the semi-final stage, but was unable to complete the race and didn't register a time.[6]
His personal best time, 8:18.91, is a Welsh record and was set in 1988, while competing in Belgium.[2] He is the only non Belgian man to win the Lotto Cross Cup.
He now works in Leeds as an orthopaedic surgeon.[7]
International competitions edit
All results regarding 3000 metres steeplechase unless stated otherwise.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing Great Britain / Wales | ||||
| 1979 | World Cross Country Championships (12 km) | Limerick, Ireland | 153rd | 41:17 |
| 1980 | World Cross Country Championships (12.58 km) | Paris, France | 62nd | 38:43 |
| Olympic Games | Moscow, Soviet Union | 13th (h) | 8:29.2 | |
| 1981 | World Cross Country Championships (12 km) | Madrid, Spain | 126th | 37:17 |
| 1982 | World Cross Country Championships (12 km) | Rome, Italy | 103rd | 36:06 |
| European Championships | Athens, Greece | 21st (h) | 8:39.22 | |
| Commonwealth Games | Brisbane, Australia | 4th | 8:32.84 | |
| 11th | 13:51.20 (5000 m) | |||
| 1983 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 5th | 8:19.38 |
| 1984 | Olympic Games | Los Angeles, United States | 10th | 8:27.10 |
| 1986 | Commonwealth Games | Edinburgh, United Kingdom | 2nd | 8:25.15 |
| European Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | 8th | 8:20.97 | |
| 1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | 14th | 8:48.86 |
| 1988 | World Cross Country Championships (12 km) | Auckland, New Zealand | 13th | 35:59 |
| Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | DNF (sf) | 8:39.30 ((heats) | |
| 1989 | World Cross Country Championships (12 km) | Stavanger, Norway | DNF | — |
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 7th | 8:36.62 |
| 14th | 14:27.06 (5000 m) | |||
| (#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf). DNF = did not finish | ||||
