Vic Matthews

{{short description|British hurdler and decathlete}} {{AI-generated|date=March 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use British English|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Vic Matthews | image = | caption = | nationality = British (English) | sport = Athletics | event = Decathlon/110 metres hurdles | club = London Athletic Club | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1934|6|23|df=yes}} | birth_place = Motspur Park, London, England | death_date = | death_place = | height =180 cm | weight = 76 kg }}

'''Victor Charles Matthews''' (born 23 June 1934) is a British hurdler and decathlete who competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics.<ref name="SportsRef">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/vic-matthews-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418042811/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/vic-matthews-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Vic Matthews Olympic Results |access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref> Later he became a school teacher in New Zealand and a celebrated furniture maker.

== Biography == Vic Matthews made his name as both a decathlete and hurdler as a teenager. He was the Surrey junior 120 yards hurdles champion in 1952 and 1953, and in the second of those years was third in the senior AAA decathlon behind Les Pinder in the decathlon event at the 1953 AAA Championships.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=24 April 2025}}</ref>.

Between 1955-59, Matthews won seven senior Surrey hurdles titles at both 120 and 220 yards, and in 1956 won the AAA decathlon title after finishing second to the non-British national, Gerald Brown at the 1956 AAA Championships but by virtue of being the highest placed 'local' athlete he was considered the British champion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/aaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (men) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=24 April 2025}}</ref>

Matthews represented the England athletics team<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000332/19580623/006/0006 |title=England's Team |work=Lincolnshire Echo |p=6 |date=23 June 1958 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=27 September 2025}}</ref> in the 120 yards hurdles at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/36501|title=Athletes and results|publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=26 July 2019|archive-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726120159/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/36501|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/cardiff-1958/athletes|title=1958 Athletes|publisher=Team England}}</ref> he was eliminated in his 120 yards heat after finishing fourth. The following year he was the AAA 120 champion<ref>https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/69283</ref>. At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he represented Great Britain in the men's 110 metres hurdles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/69283 |title=Biographical Information |website=Olympedia |access-date=24 April 2025}}</ref> In the heats Vic ran 14.9s and progressed to the quarter finals where he ran 15.0s<ref>https://www.olympedia.org/results/59716</ref>.

In 1963 Vic, his wife Hilary, and his two sons Roger and Paul emigrated to New Zealand. They settled in Hamilton in the Waikato, where he worked as a woodwork and metalwork teacher at St Pauls Collegiate School<ref>https://www.stpauls.school.nz/</ref>. He returned to the UK for one year (1975-6) to attend Loughborough University obtaining an honours degree in Design Education and a diploma in wood and metal crafts. Following this, he returned to his teaching position in Hamilton. He later became a well-known New Zealand designer and manufacturer of quality furniture<ref>https://natlib-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?vid=NLNZ&docid=INNZ7118577400002837&context=L&search_scope=INNZ</ref>. Vic was commissioned to make a chair for the use of distinguished visitors attending the Senate Chamber of the New Australian Parliament Buildings, as a gift to Australia from the New Zealand Parliament<ref>https://www.flickr.com/photos/67307569@N00/6467888645</ref>. The two other chairs on the Senate dais were also gifts, the Senate President's chair was a gift from the Canadian Parliament, and the chair used by the Governor-General at formal openings of Parliament or by the Sovereign was a gift from the British House of Commons.

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Vic}} Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:British men hurdlers Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games athletes for England Category:English men hurdlers