We recently heard that a previous member of our club passed away. Frank Salvat joined Finchley Harriers as a teenager and quickly became one of the clubs best runners and greatest characters. He was a AAA champion at 3 miles and became an International in 1960 running for Great Britain v France at The White City in the 5000m. Footage of Frank in action in the AAA at White City can be seen on the Pathe news website here
Later that year he represented GB in The Rome Olympics also in the 5000m. However he did not qualify for the final,suffering as all the GB team did for arriving in Rome only shortly before the games, and having insufficient time to become acclimatized to the very hot conditions.
Frank was a leading member of the Finchley team right up to the time he decided to join Portsmouth A.C. where he linked up with several other top runners like Bruce Tulloh,to give Portsmouth their most successful period in their history.
But his athletic acheivements are only half the story,as he was a larger than life character and the many great stories surrounding him will be told for many years,certainly as long as I am alive..
Alan Chidley
