Billy Savidan

John William Savidan (23 May 1902 – 8 November 1991), nicknamed "Billy", "Bill" or "Jack" and born in Auckland, was a New Zealand long distance runner from 1926.

Billy Savidan
Personal information
Full nameJohn William Savidan
Born(1902-05-23)23 May 1902
Auckland, New Zealand
Died8 November 1991(1991-11-08) (aged 89)
Height1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)[1]
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportAthletics
Achievements and titles
National finals1 mile champion (1927, 1928, 1929)
3 miles champion (1927, 1928, 1929, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1937)
Cross-country champion (1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935)[2]
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing  New Zealand
Commonwealth Games
1930 Hamilton6 miles

At the 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario he won the six mile race with a time of 30:49.6 mins, despite stopping over the finish line after what he thought was the last lap and being told that there was a lap to go. The official had inadvertently turned over two discs instead of one. He beat Ernie Harper from England. In the three mile race (equivalent to 5000 meters) he did not finish.

At the 1932 Summer Olympics at Los Angeles he finished fourth in both the 5000 metre event and the 10000 metre competition.

He did not compete in the national championships in 1935 and 1936 as he was working as a stonemason and could not spend the necessary time training, but competed against two Japanese runners who were visiting New Zealand in 1937. Like Malcolm Champion before him he was then for some years Custodian at Auckland's Tepid Baths.

References
  1. "Empire Games: N.Z. representatives". Evening Post. 28 June 1930. p. 13. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  2. Hollings, Stephen (December 2016). "National champions 1887–2016" (PDF). Athletics New Zealand. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  • McMillan, Neville (1993). New Zealand Sporting Legends: 27 Pre-War Sporting Heroes. Auckland: Moa Beckett. pp. 125–129. ISBN 1-869580-14-1.


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