Derek Ibbotson obituary

The former world mile record holder Derek Ibbotson, who has died aged 84 after suffering from dementia, was one of British athletics’ leading lights of the 1950s and a winner of an Olympic bronze 5000m medal in the Melbourne Games of 1956. He was always hugely popular with fans, his smiling face instantly recognisable to a generation, and his easy, plain-speaking manner and warm Yorkshire accent made him a familiar voice on television and radio broadcasts of the time.

“Ibbo”, as he was always known, had fancied his chances of taking an Olympic gold medal in the 1500m. But his ambitions were thwarted when he was selected instead to run in the 5000m in Melbourne, where he finished third behind the Soviet runner Vladimir Kuts and his British teammate Gordon Pirie, and then watched in the stands as Ireland’s Ron Delany won the 1500m gold.

In July the following year, Ibbotson was able to prove what might have been when he trounced Delany, watched by his wife, Madeline, and their five-week-old daughter, running on the cinder track at the White City Stadium in London, in a new world record time of 3 minutes 57.2 seconds, the last time a world mile record was achieved on British soil.

“I knew I could do it,” he said. “The pacemaker, Mike Blagrove, was just back from his honeymoon, but that didn’t stop him going through the half in a very quick 1 minute 56. I knew then I could take the sting out of Ronnie Delany’s sprint finish.” His face was plastered across the nation’s newspapers after a race billed by some as “the Mile of the Century”, some photographs showing him drinking a celebratory pint of milk as part of an advertising campaign.

It was part of a remarkable year for the Yorkshireman, who won 37 of the 48 track races in which he competed, and he ran 70 times in all. His versatility was underlined by the fact that one of these victories brought him the British three-mile record.

Born in Berry Brow, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Derek was the younger of two sons of John, a coachbuilder for Huddersfield Corporation buses, and his wife, Mabel. He was soon showing considerable natural talent as a runner at Almondbury grammar school, winning the Yorkshire junior mile title three times. It was in 1954, when Ibbotson served his national service with the RAF, that he began to take his running more seriously. He worked for the electrical firm Plessey for many years, combining his running career with full-time employment and still finding time for the punishing training schedules he devised as a self-coached athlete.

But he was a product of an era that was very different to the strictly monitored world of modern athletes. “I’d often eat a big fillet steak with all the trimmings before a race,” he recalled in an interview looking back at his life. “Pasta wasn’t on the menu back then, and we didn’t have coaches up north. We just ran for the fun of it.”

Ibbotson ran initially for Longwood Harriers and later South London Harriers. He believed in staying fit by racing hard and often, including cross country running during the winters. But he was never able to quite replicate the dizzy heights he achieved in 1956 and 1957 despite running in the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games and winning the European indoor two-mile title in 1962. His mile record was broken in August 1958 by the Australian Herb Elliott, in 3 minutes 54.5 seconds

After retiring from competitive running in 1968, Ibbotson became a promotions manager for the German sportswear company Puma and continued to work in the sport as a coach. He was always a joker, and ready with an amusing quip: his 1960 autobiography was named The Four-Minute Smiler, although the smile that he seemed to have on his face while running was probably more the grimace of a fiercely competitive man.

Two other Yorkshire running legends, Lord (Sebastian) Coe, himself a world mile record holder, and Peter Elliott, are among those who counted Ibbotson as somebody whose reputation was a source of inspiration. But when Ibbotson was asked who had inspired him he said: “Nobody really, I had inspiration from thoughts of breaking world records. I always wanted to be a world record holder and had a lot of drive inside me. I have admired lots of runners but not been inspired. I always wanted to be the best in the world. It’s what you have in your heart and mind that counts.”

After his running days were over he became an outstanding squash player, twice winning the Yorkshire veterans championship, and he played golf until he was in his 70s. His lifetime association with athletics was recognised in 2008 when he was awarded the MBE, and he was inducted into the British athletics hall of fame in 2011.

Ibbotson was twice married, first to Madeline Wooller, an English cross country international with whom he had three daughters, Christine, Nicki and Georgina. Then, following their divorce, he married Ann Parmenter, with whom he had a daughter, Joanna, as well as a stepson and stepdaughter. Ann died in 1997. He is survived by his partner, Lynette Beveridge, and his children.

• George Derek Ibbotson, athlete, born 17 June 1932; died 23 February 2017