Welsh long-distance runner
Roger Graham Hackney (born 2 September 1957) is a Welsh former long-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He represented Great Britain in three Olympic Games and won a silver medal for Wales at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
Biography
Hackney, who was a member of the Royal Air Force, and trained at Aldershot, Farnham and District AC, specialised in the 3000m steeplechase. He made his Olympics debut as a 22-year old at the 1980 Moscow Games and was seventh in his semi-final, only just missing out on a spot in the final, with the next best time of the competitors that missed out.[1]
At the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Hackney came fifth in the final of the steeplechase.[2]
His best performance in the Olympics came at the 1984 Los Angeles Games where he ran the semi-final in 8:20.77 and qualified for the final, in which he finished 10th.[3]
He won a silver medal representing Wales in the steeplechase at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, in a time of 8:25.15, behind Canada's Graeme Fell and ahead of Colin Reitz, another British athlete.[4] The field was weakened by the absence of many African countries, most notably Kenya, which boycotted the competition over the Thatcher government's sporting links with apartheid South Africa.[5] In 1986 he was also eighth at the European Championships.[2]
He was part of the Great British Olympic team for a third and final time at the 1988 Seoul Games. By then aged 31, Hackney once more made it to the semi-final stage, but was unable to complete the race and didn't register a time.[6]
His personal best time, 8:18.91, is a Welsh record and was set in 1988, while competing in Belgium.[2] He is the only non Belgian man to win the Lotto Cross Cup.
He now works in Leeds as an orthopaedic surgeon.[7]
International competitions
All results regarding 3000 metres steeplechase unless stated otherwise.
| Year |
Competition |
Venue |
Position |
Notes
|
Representing  Great Britain /  Wales
|
| 1979
|
World Cross Country Championships (12 km)
|
Limerick, Ireland
|
153rd
|
41:17
|
| 1980
|
World Cross Country Championships (12.58 km)
|
Paris, France
|
62nd
|
38:43
|
| Olympic Games
|
Moscow, Soviet Union
|
13th (h)
|
8:29.2
|
| 1981
|
World Cross Country Championships (12 km)
|
Madrid, Spain
|
126th
|
37:17
|
| 1982
|
World Cross Country Championships (12 km)
|
Rome, Italy
|
103rd
|
36:06
|
| European Championships
|
Athens, Greece
|
21st (h)
|
8:39.22
|
| Commonwealth Games
|
Brisbane, Australia
|
4th
|
8:32.84
|
| 11th
|
13:51.20 (5000 m)
|
| 1983
|
World Championships
|
Helsinki, Finland
|
5th
|
8:19.38
|
| 1984
|
Olympic Games
|
Los Angeles, United States
|
10th
|
8:27.10
|
| 1986
|
Commonwealth Games
|
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
|
2nd
|
8:25.15
|
| European Championships
|
Stuttgart, Germany
|
8th
|
8:20.97
|
| 1987
|
World Championships
|
Rome, Italy
|
14th
|
8:48.86
|
| 1988
|
World Cross Country Championships (12 km)
|
Auckland, New Zealand
|
13th
|
35:59
|
| Olympic Games
|
Seoul, South Korea
|
DNF (sf)
|
8:39.30 ((heats)
|
| 1989
|
World Cross Country Championships (12 km)
|
Stavanger, Norway
|
DNF
|
—
|
| 1990
|
Commonwealth Games
|
Auckland, New Zealand
|
7th
|
8:36.62
|
| 14th
|
14:27.06 (5000 m)
|
| (#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf). DNF = did not finish
|
