champion for Two Miles (8:47.8). He was one of many signatories in a letter to The Times on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'. In 2004 he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Laws from the University of Hudersfield. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to athletics. In 2011, he was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame. A qualified electrical engineer, he worked initially for the Coal Board but later was employed in sales, latterly as an agent for Puma, the sportswear company. Turning later to squash, he became good enough to represent Yorkshire, twice winning the Yorkshire veterans championship. He also played golf until he was in his 70s. Ibbotson was married twice. His first wife, Madeline Wooller was an English cross country international runner. That union resulted in three daughters, Christine, Nicki and Georgina. After his divorce from Madeline, he married Ann Parmenter. A daughter, Joanna, was the product of that marriage. Ann died in 1997. George Derek Ibbotson, born on 17 June 1932, died in Wakefield on 23 February 2017, aged 84. A large crowd attended his funeral service led by The Vicar of Huddersfield, the Rev Canon Simon Moor, at St Peter’s Church in Huddersfield, who said Derek Ibbotson epitomised all that was life-enhancing about sport and noted that "two of Derek’s proudest achievements were being awarded his MBE in 2008 and receiving an honorary degree from Huddersfield University." References Brown, Geoff and Hogsbjerg, Christian. Apartheid is not a Game: Remembering the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign. London: Redwords, 2020. . External links Derek Ibbotson's story of smashing the world record in 1957 The four stages in the life of the "Four Minute Smiler" 1932 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Huddersfield English male middle-distance runners English male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games World record setters in athletics (track and field) Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at King James's School, Almondbury Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic