Olympic Hertfordians of History: Athletics and Alan Pennington

31 July 2024

 

With the Athletics events in Paris just around the corner, here at Hertford we have been discussing with the college archivist the life and legacy of our own Hertford Athletics Olympian- Alan Pennington (Law, 1935).

Alan is 4th along on the 3rd row

Pennington’s Olympic campaign is part of a much larger history than just his games. Alan competed in the 1936 Olympics while he was still a student. This event has become synonymous with pre-Second World War tensions and the racist propaganda of Hitler and the Nazi regime. It was here that Pennington shared the track with the great Jesse Owens. Pennington ran the 100m, the 200m and the sprint relay in Berlin. In the 100m, he ran in the 10th heat and came second to the bronze medallist Tinus Osendarp representing The Netherlands. Pennington’s time of 10.6 seconds was enough to reach the quarter-finals, again he ran a time of 10.6 coming second, this time to the USA’s Ralph Metcalfe. In the semi-finals Pennington lined up against Owens, but here finished sixth.

The college magazine from the same period is full of praise for the athlete. One which begins with the declaration that there are ‘signs of an athletic renaissance’ in college, referring to Hertford reaching the semi-final of the athletics inter-college competition and to the rowing which Pennington also took part in. The article unceremoniously finishes by writing that ‘A. Pennington ran for Great Britain in the Olympic Games last year, and is now President of the O.U.A.C’. We wonder how he had time for it all!

Later in 1937, the athletics club is reported to have ‘flourished’ with a second-place finish in the inter-college competition that is ‘due chiefly to the efforts of Pennington’ and later that ‘Pennington was president of the victorious Oxford team against Cambridge’. In 1939 there is dismay that Alan Pennington was prevented from running the 100 yards due to injury.

Alongside his collegiate success, Pennington won the varsity 100 yards in 1936 and 1938 and the 400 yards in 1939. He also competed in the world student games, being in the winning team for all three relays, alongside performances in the AAA Juniors.

The final reference to Pennington in the college newsletter is more conducive to the wider story of which his Olympic performance was a part, with ‘some information about members of the college serving in the forces’ reporting sadly that his younger brother, L.A.C.R Pennington, who had only spent a term at Hertford before signing up, had been killed in action. Alan Pennington had also served in the Border Regiment and was slightly injured in France in 1940 according to the Tatler article that recorded his wedding the year after.

He married Margaret Edwards in 1941 and went on to work in business. The toll of the war left no soldier psychologically untouched, and Pennington sadly took his own life in the 60’s. His legacy, however, will never be forgotten.

The final instalment of our Hertfordian Olympians series will come out next week and focus on the swimmers!