Sussex runner took Euro bronze in 1969 and was part of the British Olympic squad at the Mexico Games in 1968
Andy Todd, an Olympian in 1968 and European 400m hurdles bronze medallist in 1969, has died aged 74 following a heart operation.
The Brighton & Hove AC athlete won English Schools titles as a teenager at sprint hurdles in 1965 and 400 yards in 1967 before going on to enjoy a short but successful career as a senior athlete.
In addition to being part of the 4x400m squad at the Mexico Games, he was reserve for the 400m hurdles, where team-mates David Hemery and John Sherwood took gold and bronze.
The following year at the European Championships in Athens he won bronze in the 400m hurdles with 50.38 as Vyacheslav Skomorokhov of the Soviet Union took gold with Sherwood taking silver.
In the same year, he became the first Sussex athlete to crack the 50 second barrier for 400m hurdles with 49.9 – a mark that stood as a Sussex record for almost 50 years until Seb Rodger ran 49.19 in 2013.
Alan Pascoe, the European and Commonwealth 400m hurdles winner, said: “Andrew was a hugely competitive and successful youth and junior hurdler as well as an international high hurdler- technically very good. He used to beat me all the time as a junior, so we weren’t very friendly then but we became in time very good friends.
“He moved up to 400m hurdles and at Crystal Palace he became the first under-20 to break 50 for 400m hurdles. Sadly injury (mainly groin problems) brought his career to a very premature end although he went on to be a successful businessman at Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (later HSBC). He was a true gentleman and a very good mate.”
Andy Todd (Mark Shearman)
Brighton & Hove AC said on their website: “A tall and elegant athlete, Todd won numerous county, regional and national titles as he moved through the age groups … and was a regular member of the Brighton & Hove Club League teams including the first Division 1 British League side.”
He leaves a wife Linda and children Charlotte, Anna and Monty.
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