David Dower Leech (9 March 1927 – 21 October 2017) was a New Zealand hammer thrower and athletics official. He represented his country at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1997, he won a World Masters hammer throw title in the M70 category.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Dower Leech | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 March 1927 | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 21 October 2017 (aged 90) Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| National finals | Hammer throw champion (1952, 1962, 1964, 1965) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and family
editLeech was born on 9 March 1927.[1] He married his wife, Patricia Elizabeth, in the 1950s.[2]
Athletics
editNational competition
editLeech won his first national hammer throw championship in 1952, with a distance of 142 ft 8 in (43.48 m).[3] It was another 10 years before he won a second national, with a best throw of 169 ft 1⁄2 in (51.52 m) in 1962.[3] He went on to win the national title on four occasions in all, with successive victories in 1964 and 1965.[3] His best winning throw was 177 ft 6 in (54.10 m) in 1964, when he became the first New Zealander to achieve a distance of over 54 metres.[3][4]
International competition
editAt the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Leech represented New Zealand in the hammer throw.[5] He finished in seventh place with a best throw of 166 ft 5+1⁄2 in (50.74 m).[6]
Masters athletics
editLeech went on to be active in Masters athletics. Between 1976 and 2014, he won 20 age-group titles in the hammer throw at New Zealand Masters championships, and he won a world Masters hammer throw bronze medal in the M70 category at the 1997 World Veterans Athletics Championships.[4]
Management
editAt the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, Carr was a New Zealand's athletics section assistant manager,[7] and two years later he was the athletics section manager for the New Zealand team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.[8] He received a merit award from Athletics New Zealand in 1988, and was awarded life membership of Athletics Canterbury in 1988.[4]
Death
editLeech died in Christchurch on 21 October 2017.[4][9] His wife, Pat, died in 2021.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Death search: registration number 2017/30128". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Patricia Leech obituary". The Press. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d Hollings, Stephen (October 2019). "National champions 1887–2019" (PDF). Athletics New Zealand. p. 38. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Athletics NZ weekly roundup". The New Zealand Herald. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Dave Leech". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Athletics hammer throw – men Perth 1962". Commonwealth Games Federation. 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Coach for Games". The Press. Vol. 113, no. 33322. 5 September 1973. p. 16. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "42 will have costs met". The Press. Vol. 116, no. 34127. 13 April 1976. p. 38. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "David Leech obituary". The Press. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2022.