SANDY DUNCAN was one of the most distinguished and sympathetic sports officials of his generation. For many years he was synonymous with the Olympic movement in Britain, where his common sense in a period of frequent turmoil was valuable.
Although not naturally reactionary, he always felt Britain should follow the regulations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), then ruled by the autocratic Avery Brundage, whose strict interpretation of amateurism became less and less tenable as his presidency continued.
Duncan was this country’s chef de mission at 12 winter and summer games, was general secretary of the British Olympic Association (BOA) from 1949 to 1975 and also honorary secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation, overseeing the celebrations from Vancouver in 1954 to Brisbane in 1982.
Kenneth Sandilands Duncan was educated at Malvern College, where his ability at the long jump was quickly evident — he won the London Athletic Club’s schools championships with a record leap of 22ft 5 3/4in. His prowess earned him a Blue in his first year at Oxford, and he also won the 100 yards against Cambridge, as well as getting a football Blue. In the AAA championships he came in the top six in the long jump every year from 1932-37, finishing second in 1934. He was sixth in both the shot and discus in 1938.
He represented Britain in 1935 and, in July 1936, ran his fastest time of 9.8 seconds for the 100 yards, although a hamstring injury prevented him from being selected for the Olympics.
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However, this disappointment inadvertently led him to his eventual career. He was attached to the headquarters staff in Berlin, so beginning his long relationship with the Olympic movement.
During the war he served in the Royal Artillery and rose to the rank of major. During the Italian campaign he was able to nurture his love of opera.
After the war Duncan taught at Bradfield and, having qualified as an AAA coach, he set up the national coaching scheme under Geoff Dyson.
His advised many competitors at the 1948 Olympics. His greatest success was in persuading Dorothy Manley to change from the high jump to the 100 metres, in which she came second to the celebrated Dutch runner Fanny Blankers-Koen. He was also the technical director of the torch relay. He crossed France in a Rolls-Royce, being fêted by the mayor of every town through which the relay passed.
His administrative career began in 1947 when he was made secretary of the Universities’ Athletic Union. This gave him the initial experience for his appointment, two years later, at the BOA. The following 26 years were difficult as the BOA, which has never received, nor sought, government funding, had to pick teams against other leading countries whose athletes either benefited from the state-amateur policy of the communist bloc or college scholarships as in the US. No official individual funding for British competitors was available until after 1976.
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There was also the constant intervention of politics. These included the crushing of the Hungarian revolution by Soviet troops in 1956, just before the Melbourne Games, and the problem of apartheid in South Africa. Duncan generally steered a middle course on the political issues and was not entirely comfortable with journalists’ questions on such matters.
His staff found him easy to work for, particularly after his first cup of coffee in the morning, but the deafness which began in his fifties gradually made communication difficult. Despite his BOA post, he still found time to officiate at meetings, including Roger Bannister’s first sub-four minute mile in 1954 and the annual Oxford and Cambridge match. He served as secretary of the Achilles Club, for Oxford and Cambridge Blues, for 39 years.
His knowledge of Olympic regulations was immense and, although appointed OBE, he was probably respected more outside Britain than in his own country. He was given the rare Olympic Award from the IOC in 1984 and also received the White Rose and Lion from Finland.
He married Katherine Darwall in 1941, who died in 1955. Their son survives him. His second marriage, to Dorothy Wentworth, was dissolved in 1966.
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Sandy Duncan, OBE, athlete and sports administrator, was born on April 26, 1912. He died on June 18, 2005, aged 93.