View source for Albert Hill (athlete)

{{Short description|British athlete (1889–1969)}}
{{Other people|Albert Hill}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Albert Hill
| image = Albert Hill 1920b.jpg
| caption = Hill at the 1920 Olympics
| full_name = Albert George Hill
| birth_date = 24 March 1889 
| birth_place = [[Tooting]], London
| death_date = 8 January 1969 (aged 79)
| death_place = [[London, Ontario]], Canada 
| height = 1.78 m
| weight = 72&nbsp;kg
| sport = Athletics
| event = 800 m, 1500 m
| club = [[Polytechnic Harriers]]
| pb = 800 m – 1:53.4 (1920)<br> 1000 yd – 2:15.0 (1920)<br> 1500 m – 4:01.8 (1920)<br> Mile – 4:13.8 (1921)
| alma_mater = 
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalCountry|{{GBR}}}}
{{Medal|Olympic}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]]|[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres|800 metres]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]]|[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres|1500 metres]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]]|[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metre team race|3000 m team]]}}
}}

'''Albert George Hill''' (24 March 1889 – 8 January 1969) was a British [[track and field]] athlete.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/69148 |title=Albert Hill |work=Olympedia |access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Remembering Albert Hill's Olympic double, on its 100th anniversary {{!}} NEWS {{!}} World Athletics|url=https://worldathletics.org/news/news/albert-hill-olympic-double-centenary|access-date=2021-12-26|website=worldathletics.org}}</ref> He competed at the 1920 Olympics and won gold medals in the 800 m and 1500 m and a silver medal in the 3000 m team race.<ref name=sr/>

== Biography ==
Hill started out as a [[long-distance runner]], winning the British [[AAA championships]] over 4 miles at the [[1910 AAA Championships]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001708/19100704/076/0004 |title=Athletics |work=Evening Star |date=3 July 1910 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19100704/218/0006 |title=AAA Championships  |work=The Scotsman |date=4 July 1910 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref>

During [[World War I]] he served with the [[Royal Flying Corps]] in [[Western Front (World War I)|France]], and after the war changed to middle-distance running. Coached by [[Sam Mussabini]] (coach of 100 m Olympic Champions [[Reggie Walker (sprinter)|Reggie Walker]] and [[Harold Abrahams]]), he won the [[List of British champions in 800 metres|880 yd national title]] and [[List of British champions in 1500 metres|1 mile national title]] at the [[1919 AAA Championships]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000681/19190707/133/0007 |title=AAA Championships |work=Daily Herald |date=7 July 1919 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=21 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000728/19190707/010/0010 |title=Amateur Champions |work=Daily Record |date=7 July 1919  |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=21 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref> and then equalled the British record of 4:16.8 for 1 mile. He nearly was not selected for the Olympics the following year, the selectors considering the 31-year-old Hill too old. Finally, he was allowed to take part at the Olympics, which were held in [[Antwerp]], Belgium.  He made the final in the 800m, which was a closely contested race.  In the end, the 31-year-old Hill beat American [[Earl Eby]] for the gold, setting a British record of 1:53.4 on a slow track.<ref name=sr/>

Two days later, Hill completed the middle distance double by winning the 1500 m as well, thus completing a "double" not replicated by a British athlete until [[Kelly Holmes]] at the [[2004 Summer Olympic Games|2004 Olympics]].  Helped by his compatriot, [[Philip Noel-Baker|Philip Baker]] (who would receive the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1959), he won comfortably, with Baker in second in a time of 4:01.8. Hill also competed in the 3000 m team race event, in which the British team finished second, earning Hill's third Olympic medal.<ref name=sr/>

Hill won the [[List of British champions in 1500 metres|1921 AAA mile championship]] in a British record of 4:13.8, at the [[1921 AAA Championships]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001542/19210702/056/0003 |title=Athletics |work=Northern Whig |date=2 July 1921 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000669/19210704/131/0006 |title=Where Britain leads |work=Birmingham Daily Gazette |date=4 July 1921  |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 November 2024 }}</ref> this was 1.2 seconds outside the world record and the second fastest amateur time ever.

Hill ended his running career in 1921 and became a coach himself, his most famous protégé being [[Sydney Wooderson]].  He emigrated to [[Canada]] shortly after [[World War II]], and died there in 1969.<ref name=sr/>

In 2010, he was inducted into the [[England Athletics Hall of Fame]].

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Albert Hill |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/hi/albert-hill-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203080202/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/hi/albert-hill-1.html |archive-date=3 December 2016}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* Nelson, Cordner and Quercentani, Roberto (1985): The Milers
* Watman, Mel (1981): Encyclopedia of Track and Field Athletics
* Peter Matthews & Ian Buchanan (1995): All-Time Greats of British & Irish Sport

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Team GB|5Xhm5eCmOcsAA2G5zCIM5n}}
* {{Olympics.com|albert-hill|org_archive=20210418055634}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 800 m Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 1500 m Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Great Britain Men (prewar)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Albert}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Tooting]]
[[Category:Athletes from the London Borough of Wandsworth]]
[[Category:English men middle-distance runners]]
[[Category:British men middle-distance runners]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:English Olympic competitors]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps personnel]]