In The News

Olympic medalist Todd Bennett passes away

Olympic medalist Todd Bennett passes away

THE death has taken place of former athlete Todd Bennett who won a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He was 51 and had been suffering from cancer.

Mr. Bennett had run the second leg of the race (see below) — the other team members were Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook and Phil Brown. They won silver in a British and European record time of 2 mins 59.13 secs. USA won the race.

A member of Southampton Athletic Club, Mr. Bennett was regarded as being a little small at 5ft. 7ins. to be able to make his mark against competitors who were predominantly much taller. Although as a junior runner he had won gold in the 400m at the European junior championships in 1981.

However, he small stature was perfectly suited to indoor running. He won a gold medal in the 400m event at the 1985 European indoor championships in Athens. In the same year he won silver in the 400m at World indoor championships in Paris.

Mr. Todd, who was regarded as having been a very tough competitor, was forced to retire from the track in 1992 because of hamstring trouble. But he continued to remain active in athletics, going on to be team manager of the G.B. junior team for several years. He also coached and was team manager at Southampton Athletic Club.

He is survived by his wife Vanessa and children Aaron and Daena.

To see footage of the 4x400m relay race at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, click here.

To see Mr. Bennett in action in a heat of the 200m event at the AAA’s in 1983, click here.

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