Ken Matthews
In the 1964 Tokyo games Ken Matthews won a gold medal for Great Britain in the 20km race walk.
- Born:
-
1934
- Place of Birth:
- Birmingham
- Famous For:
- Wrexham's first Olympic gold medallist
'It isn't a fashionable sport, it was always one of the Cinderella sports'
Ken Matthews
- Biography:
-
In the 1964 Tokyo games Ken Matthews won a gold medal for Great Britain in the 20km race walk.
He retired from the sport a year later and moved to Wrexham with his wife Sheila.
BBC News archive has photos and an interview with Ken looking back on his 15 minutes of fame which is apt because, for a long time, he was dubbed 'the forgotten gold medallist' after he failed to receive an MBE - an accolade apparently given to athletes who win gold. More...
It's taken 40 years, but Wrexham now has a clutch of gold medals with Team GB rower Tom James who won gold in the coxless fours at Beijing in 2008 followed by Paralympic pilot cyclist Ellen Hunter who won another two.
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