3 December 2018

IAAF President Sebastian Coe announced the creation of the IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque in Monaco over the weekend, with Manchester Harriers & Athletics Club receiving one of the inaugural plaques.

The plaque commemorates the achievements of Briton Emil Voigt who was the last British athlete to win a long-distance running gold medal at the Olympic Games prior to Sir Mo Farah’s 2012 double.

Voigt’s success was 104 years earlier at the first London Olympic Games where he triumphed in the 5-mile event in a time of 25:11.2. This came despite tearing muscles in his foot during his heat and having to improvise a plaster of Paris arch support to be built into his running shoe. He was a class apart, finishing some 70 yards ahead of the field.

He was born in Manchester, England on the 31 January 1883 and his finest triumph on the track came at those 1908 Olympic Games at White City Stadium. He died in Auckland, New Zealand, on the 16 October 1973.

There are 11 other sites which have received these inaugural plaques to commemorate these athlete’s fine achievements. Coe also opened a public competition to design the plaque and launched a dedicated plaque website section for the new award.

Find more information here: https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/world-athletics-heritage-plaque-award-launch