John Landy recalls an act of sportsmanship, 2008

Transcript of interview

It was the Australian mile championship and 25,000 people came down hoping to see a world record. And frankly I was interested as much in running a tactical race because I certainly wasn't going to be attempting to set a world record when I ran in the 15 hundred metres for Australia in the Olympic Games, which was scheduled for November that year. And as a result of that, I didn't take the lead as people thought I would and the field was very cluttered, for which I must take some responsibility.

But about halfway round the third lap, Clarke was tripped up. I didn't do it myself but he was tripped up and he sprawled in front of me and I had to try and jump him and I had very long spikes in my running shoes and I didn't succeed in getting right over the top of him and I landed on him and tore his arm. And I was a bit upset by the whole thing. I stopped. It was a hundredth of a second sort of reaction, stopped, walked over the line, came back, and attempted to help him up. And then he got up and said 'Get going' and I did that and I had to catch up the rest of the field who might have been 40 or 50 metres ... I don't think that probably was that much ... but it was certainly a fair way ahead, and I caught the field and won the race in 4 minutes 4 seconds.

I think it was one of those things that's sort of an embedded impulse, if you like. I did something on the spur of the moment. I think too much is made of it, but there you are, and I did succeed in winning the race.