Today in Sports
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
  • DMCA
  • Disclaimer
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
No Result
View All Result
Today in Sports
No Result
View All Result

Meet Jim Morrish, the original AW cover star

March 6, 2025
in Athletics
0
Home Athletics
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


You might also like

New Balance becomes title sponsor of the Mont-Blanc Marathon

Sifan Hassan to compete at the TCS Sydney Marathon 2025

Euro Team Champs 2025: who, what and when guide

The star of our first-ever front page in December 1945 was a fine long jumper who competed for Tipton Harriers and the Achilles club

Over the past 80 years several thousand athletes have graced the cover of AW. Some, such as Usain Bolt, have featured on our front page a number of times. The first athlete to receive the honour as an ‘AW cover star’, though, was the little-known long jumper Jim Morrish.

The Oxford University athletics captain had a best of 7.31m and was pictured in action on the front of our iconic December 1945 issue while jumping at White City. 

Born in 1920, he competed for Wolverhampton Grammar School and joined Tipton Harriers in 1938 – winning, among other things, the Midland Counties junior 220 yards title – before going to Oxford University, where he represented the Achilles club. Once there he was invited to train for the 1948 Olympics but turned it down, his family believe, in order to focus on tutoring his young son, David, with maths.

“He was a versatile athlete,” says Tipton Harriers historian Chris Holloway, “often covering track and field events in inter-club trophy meetings that were popular at the time before leagues. He gained Staffordshire colours before the war and it would appear he went to Oxford sometime in late 1939 were he won two events in the Freshman’s Sports in high jump and long jump.”

Holloway adds: “His university career was impressive and he beat CB Fry’s long jump record that had stood since around 1893!”

It seems Morrish put academics before athletics as he left Oxford with a double first in Maths and also Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Later he enjoyed success in the emerging world of rubber and plastics, winning a prize for innovation industry which was to be presented to him in Australia in 1967.

Sadly he died from a heart attack just before he was due to make the trip, though, with his wife, Joyce, still in her 40s and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Rosemary, still at school.

Rosemary says: “As the issue [in December 1945] suggests, my father was a leading UK long jumper immediately after the war. He came second in the July 1946 AAA championships with a leap of 6.96 metres.”

There is no doubt Morrish’s career was interrupted by World War II as well, with him serving in the RAF as a pilot officer.

After hanging up his long jump spikes he became a leading golfer with Harpenden Golf Club and he was a fine piano player and a keen oil painter. “My father was exceptionally talented in many ways,” says Rosemary.

She adds: “Today’s athletes are the same as those in the 1940s – they not only enjoy the competitive nature of athletics events and the pushing of one’s performance to PBs but also they develop and are enriched by these close and lifelong friendships made at the time.”

» Subscribe to AW magazine here, check out our new podcast here or sign up to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here

Subscribe to the AW Newsletter



Source link

Tags: CoverJimMeetMorrishOriginalStar
Share30Tweet19

Recommended For You

New Balance becomes title sponsor of the Mont-Blanc Marathon

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 26, 2025
0
New Balance becomes title sponsor of the Mont-Blanc Marathon

Celebrating trail running this summer, New Balance kicks off the first of five years as title sponsor of the Mont-Blanc Marathon, also unveiling updated colourways of the Hierro...

Read more

Sifan Hassan to compete at the TCS Sydney Marathon 2025

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 25, 2025
0
Sifan Hassan to compete at the TCS Sydney Marathon 2025

Sifan Hassan is one of the most enduring athletes in our sport! For fourteen years, Sifan Hassan has builty her legacy through cross country, middle distances and long...

Read more

Euro Team Champs 2025: who, what and when guide

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 25, 2025
0
Euro Team Champs 2025: who, what and when guide

Italy is the team to beat in Madrid this weekend as the Azzurri bring out their big guns in defence of the title they won two years ago...

Read more

How to watch Faith Kipyegon’s historic attempt at the first Women’s 4 minute mile!

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 24, 2025
0
How to watch Faith Kipyegon’s historic attempt at the first Women’s 4 minute mile!

Faith Kipyegon will soon attempt to become the first woman to run a mile in under 4 minutes, and Nike, her partner of 16 years, is meeting this monumental...

Read more

Gout Gout wins on European debut in Ostrava

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 24, 2025
0
Gout Gout wins on European debut in Ostrava

Sprint sensation improves his own Oceania 200m record to 20.02 at the Golden Spike meet in Czechia Gout Gout, the 17-year-old Australian sprint talent, enjoyed victory on his...

Read more
Next Post
Offseason In Review: Cleveland Guardians

Offseason In Review: Cleveland Guardians

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

Kate Abdo’s accomplice Malik Scott sends Carragher a warning

Kate Abdo’s accomplice Malik Scott sends Carragher a warning

March 27, 2024
Giants’ Brian Daboll wished he ‘dealt with issues in another way’ final 12 months

Giants’ Brian Daboll wished he ‘dealt with issues in another way’ final 12 months

March 26, 2024
Kayla Harrison Claims Julianna Peña Has Just One Strength In Their UFC 316 Title Clash

Kayla Harrison Claims Julianna Peña Has Just One Strength In Their UFC 316 Title Clash

May 18, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
Today in Sports

Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net. Soccer News, Basketball News, Baseball News, Golf News, Boxing News and More!

CATEGORIES

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis

Recent News

  • OneCourt’s Technology Creates Opportunity for Visually Impaired and Low Vision Fans to Enjoy the NBA
  • Why is Erling Haaland not playing today in Juventus vs. Manchester City for the Club World Cup?
  • NFL all time quarterbacks ranking: Miami Dolphins Hall of Famer Bob Griese lands among top 30
  • Contact us
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • DMCA
  • Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.