John Davies (athlete)

John Llewellyn Davies (25 May 1938 – 21 July 2003) was a New Zealand Olympic bronze medalist and president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).

He was born in London, England to Welsh parents and in 1953 he moved to New Zealand with his family.

Davies won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, and a silver medal in the one mile event at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth.

After retiring from competitive running he started coaching middle and long distance athletes, including 1976 Olympic 5000m silver medallist Dick Quax, 1992 Olympic Marathon bronze medallist Lorraine Moller and 1996 Olympic 800m finalist Toni Hodgkinson.

In October 2000, Davies succeeded Sir David Beattie to become the NZOC president. In 2003 he was awarded the Leonard Cuff medal by the International Olympic Academy for promoting olympism, only weeks before he died.

Famous quotes containing the word davies:

    He gives the impression of a strong mind which is composed and wise. His brown eye is exceedingly kindly and gentle. A child would like to sit in his lap and a dog would sidle up to him. It is difficult to associate his personality and this impression of kindness and gentle simplicity with what has occurred here in connection with these purges and shootings of the Red Army generals, and so forth.
    —Joseph Davies (1876–1958)