Henry Stallard

Who was Henry Stallard?

Hyla Bristow "Henry" Stallard was a British athlete who competed principally as a middle-distance runner.

Stallard was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in Sherborne, Dorset, before going up to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied medicine. At Caius he was a contemporary of Harold Abrahams, and a member of the University Athletics team in 1920, 1921 and 1922. Stallard competed for Great Britain in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, winning the bronze medal in the 1500 metres and finishing fourth in the 800 metres. He was portrayed by Daniel Gerroll in the 1981 Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire.

Stallard went on to have a distinguished medical career. As Ophthalmic Surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, he pioneered cobalt plaque radiotherapy for the treatment of ocular tumours, particularly in children.