Peter Hildreth

Who was Peter Hildreth?

Peter Hildreth was a British hurdling athlete. Born in Bedford, he reached the semi-finals of the 110 metre hurdles at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, finishing 12th. He also represented Britain at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1960 Rome Games. He won the bronze medal in the 1950 European Championships in spite of a poor lane draw on a wet track.

He equalled the British record for the 110 metre hurdles, with a time of 14.3 seconds, on five occasions.

Following his retirement from athletics, he served as an athletics journalist, writing for the Sunday Telegraph and commentating on events for BBC Radio. Hildreth, in July 2008, at age 80 was banned from running up an escalator in the Elphicks Farnham department store on safety grounds. Hildreth died on 25 February 2011 at the age of 82.