Name Nigel Barker Education Newington College | Role Olympic athlete | |
Died July 31, 1948, Sydney, Australia | ||
Nigel Chase Barker (26 February 1883 – 31 July 1948) was an Australian athlete, who is regarded as holder of Australia's first athletics world record, in the 400 yards, and is an Olympic Games bronze medalist.
Barker was born in Sydney and attended Newington College (1895-1901) and the University of Sydney. He is described in the official Olympic history of Australia as 'an outstanding all-rounder' and he played representative rugby union for New South Wales. In 1904, Barker was selected for the St Louis Games, but injured an ankle playing rugby.
He competed for Australia in the 1906 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece in the 400 metres where he won the bronze medal. He then repeated this feat in the 100 metres winning himself a second bronze medal. A public subscription raised the funds for him to compete in Athens.