Ernest Harper

Who was Ernest Harper?

Ernest "Ernie" Harper was an English athlete who competed for Great Britain in the 1924 Summer Olympics, in the 1928 Summer Olympics, and in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

He was born at Clay Cross, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire and died in Rosebud, Australia.

In the 1924 Paris Olympic Games he finished fifth in the 10000 metre contest and fourth in the individual cross country event. He was the only British finisher in this race therefore the British team was unplaced in the team cross country competition. Just fifteen of the thirty-eight starters finished the event due to the extreme heat, The Times reporting the scenes at the end of the race:

Some way behind Harper a figure in the scarlet drawers of Spain appeared in the entrance, turned the wrong way, was stopped, and then ran horribly round in little circles till he plunged on his face. Immediately another figure appeared, Sewell of the British team. He also tried to run the wrong way, was checked, and turned round, ran giddily a few yards, staggered, met another competitor, a Finn, also reeling, and the two fell together in a dreadful heap.