Brian Hewson, athlete who won European gold in the 1,500 metres in 1958 – obituary

Brian Hewson, who has died aged 89, became only the fifth man to run a sub-four-minute mile; he represented Great Britain at the Olympics in 1956 and 1960 and won the gold medal in the 1,500 metres at the 1958 European Championships as a result of what he believed to be a selectors’ blunder.

On May 28 1955, about 24,000 spectators at the White City Stadium watched what the Telegraph reporter described as “the greatest one mile race in athletics history” when three runners – the Hungarian László Tábori, Hewson and his compatriot Chris Chataway – completed the distance in less than four minutes.

“In a desperately fought-out finish,” ran the report, “Tábori went in front of the British pair 40 yards before the tape to win by four yards in a new British all-comers’ record of 3:59:0. Chataway and Hewson finished together in 3:59.8, Chataway gaining second place by an inch.”

Before that race, only Roger Bannister and John Landy had broken the four-minute time barrier.

For much of the 1950s Hewson was one of Britain’s best half-milers, his best performances in the 880 yards being silver medals in the 1954 and 1958 Empire Games. His best season was in 1958, the highlight being his gold in the 1500m at the European Championships in Stockholm on August 24.

“I actually wanted to run the 800 metres, having won the AAA 880 yards title at White City that summer, beating Australia’s Herb Elliott, and then finishing a good second to him in the Commonwealth 880 yards at Cardiff,” he recalled. He was, he said, “ready for anything over two laps” but was “hopping mad” to find that the selectors had entered him for the 1,500, up against a field bursting with talent.

Heavy rainfall delayed the final as the waterlogged cinder track was doused with petrol and set alight to help it dry out. As Hewson was used to running in poor conditions, his hopes began to rise.

He ran a waiting race, watching as the Irish champion Ronnie Delany put on a spurt entering the back straight, chasing the Swede Dan Waern. But the two runners could only watch as Hewson passed them both on the final straight: “I kicked off the last bend so fast that I swung right out into the fourth lane,” he recalled. “They just weren’t expecting me. I was so elated that I threw my arms in the air well before breaching the tape.” His time was 3:41.9.

Brian Stanford Hewson was born in Croydon, then in Surrey, on April 4 1933, and discovered running as a pupil at Mitcham Grammar School: he had to eat lunch at another school half a mile away and he and a friend would race there to be first in the queue. In 1947 he won the 440 yards in a local schools event that led to a scholarship with Mitcham Athletic Club.

Coached by Frank Drew, in his first year as a junior Hewson won the Amateur Athletics Association junior 880 title in a record time of 1:55.3.

After leaving school aged 16 he took a course in tailoring at the Regent Street Polytechnic. Called up for National Service in the Army at the end of 1952, he won the Army 880 and in 1953 became British champion when he won the AAA 880 in 1:54.2. Later the same year, in his first international, against France, he was second behind Roger Bannister in 1:51.9.

He won the AAA 880 again the following year, but came second to the talented Derek Johnson at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and was eliminated in the European Championship semi-finals.

Nonetheless he was now an established runner of international class, and in 1955, after Drew’s death, he was taken on by the Austrian-born coach Franz Stampfl and joined him to train with Chris Chataway over a mile.

After his four-minute mile at White City, later in the season Hewson broke the British 880 record, against Hungary, in 1:48.6.

In the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Hewson came second in his 1500m heat in a time of 3:48.0. In the final he was leading in the final straight when, he recalled, “the whole field seemed to stream past me, one after another.” In fact he was passed by four others, finishing fifth in 3:42.6.

In 1958, as well as his victory at the European Championships, he produced his best times over the mile and half-mile and their metric equivalents.

Six weeks before the 1960 Rome Olympics, however, on a bumpy track in Bournemouth, Hewson damaged a calf muscle which, despite treatment, kept breaking down. He qualified for the 800m but arrived in Rome only four days before his first race, too late to adapt to the August heat. None the less, he led for 700 metres in his heat before his leg gave way. He finished fourth.

Throughout his running career Hewson worked full-time at Simpsons of Piccadilly, first as a tailor, then as the buyer for hats and umbrellas; a colleague recalled his putting his athletic prowess to good use when a thief entered the department and made off with a hat. Hewson apprehended the man well before the first bend into Lower Regent Street.

Subsequently he set up his own tailoring business in the East End, became a women’s fashion buyer for English Lady and later a sportswear and sporting goods buyer for Debenhams. He then joined the Incentive Group, where he was involved in the design and manufacture of corporate uniforms for UK multinationals.

In 2005 he moved to South Africa.

Brian Hewson’s first marriage, to Roberta Bassford, was annulled, and his second, to Alison Blaiklock, was dissolved. In 1991 he married, thirdly, Marion Stiff, who survives him with two sons and a daughter from his second marriage, two stepsons and two stepdaughters.

Brian Hewson, born April 4 1933, died September 13 2022