{{short description|South African sprinter (1886–1944)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Use British English|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = George Patching | birth_name = | image = | caption = | nationality = South African | sport = Sprinting | event = 100 metres | club = | birth_date = {{birth date|1886|9|15|df=yes}} | birth_place = Queenstown, Cape Colony, South Africa | death_date = {{death date and age|1944|3|31|1886|9|15|df=yes}} | death_place = Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa }}
'''George Herbert Patching''' (15 September 1886 – 31 March 1944) was a South African sprinter who finished 4th in the 100 metres at the 1912 Summer Olympics.<ref name=Oly>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/75305 |title=George Patching |work=Olympedia |access-date=15 November 2024 }}</ref>
== Career == Patching won the British AAA Championships title in the 100 yards event at the 1912 AAA Championships.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19120624/214/0014 |title=Athletic Championship |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |date=24 June 1912 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=15 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003329/19120624/106/0004 |title=Amateur Athletic Championship |work=Leicester Evening Mail |date=24 June 1912 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=15 November 2024 }}</ref> The time recorded in the final was 9.8 seconds and was described as the outstanding feature of the day.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002911/19120629/034/0003 |title=Record time |work=Sport (Dublin) |date=29 June 1912 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 November 2024 }}</ref>
In addition to winning the 100 yards title he finished third behind Willie Applegarth in the 220 yards event and finished runner-up behind Cyril Seedhouse in the 440 yards, at the same championships.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=15 November 2024 }}</ref>
Later that year, at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, Patching competed in the men's 100 metres event, where he just missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in the final.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/sport/2021-07-18-reflecting-on-sas-12-greatest-olympic-moments-ahead-of-tokyo-games/ |title=Reflecting on SA's 12 greatest Olympic moments ahead of Tokyo Games |work=Sunday Times (South Africa) |url-access=subscription |date=18 July 2021 |access-date=15 November 2024 }}</ref><ref name="SportsRef">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/george-patching-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418011156/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/george-patching-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=George Patching Olympic Results |access-date=1 June 2017}}</ref> Patching also competed in the 200 metres, where he won his quarter final race and the 400 metres, winning his heat before being eliminated in the semi-finals.<ref name=Oly/>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{sports links}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Patching, George}} Category:1886 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Category:South African men sprinters Category:Olympic athletes for South Africa Category:People from Queenstown, South Africa Category:Cape Colony people Category:Athletes from the Eastern Cape {{SouthAfrica-athletics-bio-stub}}