John (Jack) Ainsworth-Davis

Born in Aberystwyth in 1895, there’s not much known about of his athletics career and there is no record of him competing in Welsh championships.

However, despite not competing in the AAA championships of 1920 – effectively the trials for the Olympic team that year – he was selected for Britain’s team presumably on the basis of his third place for Cambridge in the 440 yards at the 1920 varsity match.

Along with Neath-born Cecil Griffiths he was a member of the British team which won the 4 x 400m gold medal at the first Olympic Games after the World War One in Antwerp.

He also finished fifth in the individual 400m in Antwerp with an estimated time of 50.0secs, which he recorded in both semi-final and final. However he was a late call-up to the event after  after the withdrawal of Cecil Griffiths due to illness. But Griffiths recovered from what was thought to be food poisoning in time to take his place in the relay.

In June just before leaving for Antwerp, Ainsworth-Davies was speedy enough to win the 100 yards in 10.4 secs for Achilles in their match against RMA Sandhurst, also winning the 440 yards in 51.8 secs and finishing second in the long jump. And just 2 days later he finished second in the 440 yards again for the newly-formed Achilles Club in the Kinnaird Cup but being beaten by future team-mate and Olympic relay gold medallist Guy Butler.

In another of the few recorded races he ran outside of the Olympics, Ainsworth-Davis placed fourth in the 1921 AAA 440 yds, finishing just a yard behind Griffiths. He also appeared for the British Empire in the 4 x 440 yards in their match against the USA – the first such fixture of its type which became a regular fixture when the Olympics were held in Europe. After this he appeared to retire to concentrate on his medical career.

But he was a fine all-round sportsman gaining his colours in rugby and football at Christ College Cambridge as well as athletics. Obviously a very gifted man, he was also a fine musician.

He eventually became an eminent urological surgeon and secretary of the Royal Society of Medicine. During the Second World War, he was head of the surgical division at the RAF Hospital at Cosford with the rank of Wing Commander. He died 3 January 1976 aged 80.

He was inducted into our Hall of fame posthumously in 2024.

Clive Williams