 Elliott at the 1960 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Herbert James Elliott |
| Nickname | Herb |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 25 February 1938 Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1] |
| Weight | 150 lb (68 kg)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Middle-distance running |
| Coached by | Percy Cerutty |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Olympic finals | Rome 1960 |
| Personal bests | |
Medal record | |
Herbert James Elliott AC MBE (born 25 February 1938) is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the record held by Derek Ibbotson; later in the month he set the 1500 metres world record, running 3:36.0, 2.1 seconds under the record held by Stanislav Jungwirth. In the 1500 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics, he won the gold medal and bettered his own world record with a time of 3:35.6.
Herb Elliot never lost a mile run and accomplished 36 wins over this distance.[2] During his career, he broke four minutes for the mile on 17 occasions. Only David Richards[citation needed] came close to beating him.
Elliott retired from athletics soon after the 1960 Olympics, at the age of 22.[3] He made a career in business, and at one time was chairman of Fortescue Metals Group. He was also chairman of Global Corporate Challenge health initiative.