Henry Edward Kerr (28 January 1879 – 17 May 1951) was a New Zealand athlete who competed mainly in walking events.[1] He competed for Australasia in the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London in the 3500 metre walk where he won the bronze medal. This was the first time a New Zealand-born person had won an Olympic medal.[2][3]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Henry Edward Kerr | |||||||||||
| Born | 28 January 1879 Inglewood, New Zealand | |||||||||||
| Died | 17 May 1951 (aged 72) Taranaki, New Zealand | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb) | |||||||||||
| Relative | Winston Cowie (great-grandson) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Biography
editKerr was born in Taranaki[2] and was a champion shooter and keen rugby player, as well as competing in a variety of track and field events.[2] Competing for a time as a professional he was required to stand down from competition for two years in order to regain his amateur status.[2] After winning numerous national titles Kerr virtually retired in 1912 and briefly served in World War I in mid-1918,[4] but returned to win two more national titles in 1925 at the age of 46.[2]
Kerr was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.[2]
On 13 July 2008 to commemorate the first Olympic Games medal by a New Zealander (actually on 14 July 1908) the Harry Kerr Centennial Walking Relay was held at Sovereign Stadium, Mairangi Bay, Auckland. Two events were held, a 5×10 km relay and a 3500 m individual event.[5][6] A shield for the winning team was presented by Kerr's daughter-in-law.[6][7][8] It was proposed that this become an annual event,[7] but no subsequent events were held.
Kerr's great-grandson is New Zealand film director and rugby union player Winston Cowie.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Harry Kerr". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Harry Kerr Archived 11 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine. New Zealand Olympic Committee.
- ^ Harry Kerr. sports-reference.com
- ^ "Henry Edward Kerr". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 15 July 2022 – via Online Cenotaph.
- ^ Harry Kerr Centennial Walking Relay and other news from the week. Athletics New Zealand. 14 July 2008
- ^ a b Maddaford, Terry (12 July 2008). "Take a walk back in time to our first medal". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ^ a b First Olympic medal celebrated. North Shore Times. 10 July 2008
- ^ Picture of Rose Sheat, Kerr's daughter-in-law, with Shield. newspix.nzherald.co.nz. 12 July 2008
- ^ "Life's his best game and he plays hard". Harald on Sunday. 28 July 2012. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
