20 Mar 2017

Olympic gold medallist Sir John Walker gets Bronze

11:03 am on 20 March 2017

A bronze statue of New Zealand athletics legend Sir John Walker is to be placed in Manurewa town centre in Auckland.

A bronze statue of New Zealand athletics legend Sir John Walker is to be placed in Manurewa town centre in Auckland.

Walker, who initially ran for the Manurew Harriers club, won the 1500m gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

He had set a a world mile record time of 3:49.4 minutes in Sweden in 1975, bettering the previous time of 3:51.0 set earlier that year by Filbert Bayi.

Sir Walker

Sir John Walker. Photo: Photosport

It was the first time that the someone had gone under the 3 minute 50 second barrier.

He was also the first runner to run 100 sub four minute miles.

The statue has been commissioned by the Sir John Walker Legacy Trust which has been raising funds for the project for several years.

It will be made by sculptor Joanne Sullivan and is expected to take a year to complete.