John Thornton (athlete)

John Thornton
Personal information
Birth name	John St. Ledger Thornton
Nationality	British
Born	6 June 1911; Greasley, England
Died	18 August 1944 (aged 33); Normandy, German-occupied France
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event	110 metres hurdles

John St. Ledger Thornton (6 June 1911 – 18 August 1944) was a British hurdler who competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics.^[1] He was killed in action during World War II.^[2]

Biography

Thornton finished second behind Don Finlay in the 120 yards hurdles event at the 1936 AAA Championships.^[3]^[4]^[5]

One month later he was selected to represent Great Britain at the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, where he competed in the men's 110 metres hurdles competition.^[6]

Thornton finished second behind Don Finlay again in the 120 yards event at the 1937 AAA Championships^[7]^[8] and the 1938 AAA Championships.^[9]^[10]

Thornton served as a major in the Seaforth Highlanders during the Second World War.^[11] He served at El Alamein and in the Sicily Campaign, and was killed in action on 18 August 1944 during the Battle of Normandy.^[1] Thornton is buried at Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "John Thornton Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
^ "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
^ "AAA Championships begin". Western Mail. 11 July 1936. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Wooderson wins again". Daily Herald. 13 July 1936. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
^ "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
^ "The Athletic Championships". Liverpool Daily Post. 17 July 1937. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Six records go by the board at White City". Evening Despatch. 19 July 1937. Retrieved 18 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Italian wins six-mile title". Western Mail. 16 July 1938. Retrieved 19 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "AAA Championships". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 18 July 1938. Retrieved 19 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "Casualty Details: Thronton, John St. Ledger". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 20 May 2020.