The Walker who sprinted to gold first
SA’s 1908 Olympics winner was a Durban hero
South Africa’s first Olympics hero was a teenage sprinter from Durban. When he won the 100m at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, he returned to a hero’s welcome.
If another Durban boy, swimmer Chad le Clos, was the hero after the 2012 London Olympics, then the fame of Walker, if anything, exceeded that of Le Clos.
Reg Walker was South Africa’s first gold medal winner – and our only one at the 1908 Games.
Durbanites had already taken young Walker into their hearts, owing to his unique circumstances prior to the Games.
Although the Union of South Africa was still two years away, the four colonies entered a combined South African team. Walker was particularly proud to wear the Springbok emblem, which he treasured all his life.
When the Olympics team was announced, Walker’s name was omitted, even though he held three South African sprint records.
There was a public outcry with both the Natal Mercury and Sunday Times taking up his cause. When an appeal was launched to raise the £100 necessary to cover Walker’s expenses, the amount was quickly raised.
With such strong patriotic support, Walker sailed with the rest of the team to London.
By chance, he was noticed by Sam Mussabini, who became his coach. Mussabini would later also coach Harold Abrahams to 100m glory at the 1924 Olympics, which was immortalised in the film, Chariots of Fire.
He fine-tuned Walker’s technique, but few gave him a chance of winning. Then, as now, the 100m sprint is the blue riband event of the Olympics.
There were four men in the final, including the 1904 silver medallist. A lifelong smoker, Walker calmed himself with a cigarette before running the race of his life.
His winning time of 10.8 seconds equalled the Olympic record and at 19 years and 128 days, he remains – more than a century later – the youngest winner of this race.
He is also the only South African winner. After the race he was carried off the track shoulder high, before being presented to the royal box.
The crowds which waited for his arrival at the docks in Durban were the largest yet seen for a sportsman.
A civic reception was held for him in the Town Hall (today the Post Office) with hundreds of fans hoping for a glimpse of him, outside.
The demands made on his time were phenomenal. Crowds flocked to see him race at Durban’s Lord’s Ground, which had the finest track in Natal. The military today occupies the surviving remnant of this ground in Old Fort Road.
There were night races, public appearances and “Reggie Walker” sports days.
However, all sport was amateur. Walker’s one talent was sprinting. He made the difficult decision to turn professional, thus disqualifying himself from all national championships and future Olympic games.
He raced professionally for just five years: 1909 to 1914. Then World War I erupted. He had made a fair living, but nothing like top athletes earn today.
In the midst of commemorations for World War I, it is worth remembering that Walker signed up as a volunteer.
He first served in German South West Africa (Namibia) where he was photographed naked on horseback.
In 1917, he enlisted with the Expeditionary Forces for service in France. His experiences as an infantryman on the front effectively ended his career.
Malaria, boils, and a gunshot wound to his head not only took a toll on his health, but had a profound effect on him.
He suffered repeated bouts of trench foot from standing knee-deep in water in the trenches, which could result in a gangrenous disease of the feet – hardly ideal for a runner.
Walker was discharged in January 1919, “having suffered impairment” to his health.
He never raced competitively again. Many soldiers refrained from discussing their experiences on the front.
One shell-shocked soldier once wrote that: “If hell is any worse, I would not like to go to it.”
After the war, Walker enjoyed coaching, particularly his stepson, but after the death of his second wife, Sarah, in 1941, he became lonely and began to drink heavily.
His last residence was a room at the Riviera Hotel on the Esplanade. He died on November 5, 1951, aged 62, in the King George V Hospital, leaving only movable property.
His Olympic medal and Springbok blazer were stolen in the 1930s and have never subsequently come to light.
In its obituary, the Sunday Times accurately described Walker as a trailblazer with a fighting heart.
Two events defined his life: those 10.8 seconds in July 1908 and the two years he served as a soldier in France.
Although few South Africans remember Reggie Walker today, he remains our first golden Olympian, whose 100m dash inspired athletes long after he had retired.