He made Peter Tozer, a trusty lieutenant from the early days, his deputy and launched Charlie Sale on a stratospheric curve by making him news editor. “David could do every journalistic job in the book – writing, subbing, layout, ideas, motivation, the lot,” says Sale. When he returned to the UK, he joined Sir John Whitmore and David Whitaker as performance consultants and after a year of running workshops for various sports on the benefits and skill of mentoring, the trio spent most of their time with blue chip companies, introducing the skill and importance of questioning and listening, to balance the traditional telling style of management. Had they only known, the best long jumpers of the time headed by the reigning Olympic champion Ralph Boston and his Welsh successor, Lynn Davies, might have started looking to their laurels. Anyone doubting the sincerity of the schoolboy’s ambition would be treated to an impromptu demonstration of his ability. He then goes on to explain his views on an aspect of coaching that remains a topical issue – the extent to which an athlete should take ownership for their training, as opposed to relying on their coach.

David Hemery won the first ever British Superstars competition, held in 1973, registering a second victory in 1976, and was recognised as Britain's best Superstar from 1973 to 1977. But rather than lose ground he gained it and along the straight Hemery, perfection at every obstacle, was out on his own while the rest panted and struggled for minor prizes.

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Reflecting on his ‘killer’ training sessions, Hemery recalls the precise words that his coach would offer to serve as motivation. “Getting through killer sessions in the winter and very early spring, the coach would say, ‘Just take the first step’, which is of course the hardest,” remembers Hemery. Once he had started running, he found he would often surprise himself with just how much more hard effort was possible. DAVID HEMERY’S ‘KILLER’ TRAINING SESSIONS FROM THE LEAD-UP TO THE OLYMPICS IN MEXICO IN 1968

That letter was especially poignant for me because my father died unexpectedly aged 67 just a week later and somehow working with David – such a charismatic figure – became all the more important to me. I hung on to his every word, as did many others. He was the biggest influence on so many Fleet Street careers. And when you got a compli- ment from him about something you’d written, it was like being praised for your positional play by Ronnie O’Sullivan. It really meant something.Awards from the SJA were won by Jim Lawton, a coruscating columnist and reporter, and myself, who had a licence to roam. After more than 15 seasons and almost 800 issues, The Rugby Paper is still going strong, still reaching parts of the game, not least those at community level, largely neglected through the demise of local newspapers decimated in a post-digital world. The name of Lillian Board remains to me, a child in the 60s with little interest in sport, by far the most familiar name in British athletics, after Roger Bannister’s. So I was quite astounded to find that her name would not even be mentioned at the London Olympics. And I wrote to the committee to say so. This is the committee’s response, a model of bureaucratic inadequacy. Beyond feeling a sense of grievance and dismay at such a failure in honouring a great precursor, I wonder what, for a historian, might account for this sort of forgetting?

And not just won, but thrashed the field in 48.12sec, to take the world record by eight-tenths of a second. “I believe,” wrote the Times’s correspondent Neil Allen the next day, “this was the outstanding British athletics performance of all time.” D AVID Emery was a brilliant writer and unflappable editor who brought a sense of serenity to the most chaotic of professions. David’s knowledge of sport was peerless, and on the rare occasions he brought his hands clattering down on a keyboard, his skill as a writer effortlessly blew all of his staff out of the water. Reporter, sub-editor, columnist, newspaper publisher. Committee volunteer. A runner supporting charities. Always with a generous word for all-comers. Few people play the game with such panache and win so much respect as David did. Spring was in the air in Fleet Street in 1987, when David Emery quit as chief sports writer of the Daily Express to become sports editor.

The Pursuit Of Sporting Excellence A Study Of Sport's Highest Achievers, 1986, ISBN 978-087-322131-3 Jill returned to the Mayo Clinic every summer, and it was always the same. There was nothing doctors could do, and nothing new they could tell her. The constant falling-on-her-face stopped on its own, but it was replaced by a burning sensation in her legs. And while Jill was growing in height like a normal girl, the fat on her arms and legs was vanishing. By the time she was eight, her arms and legs were so skinny that other kids would wrap their fingers around them and ask if her mother fed her at home. He loved giving young journalists a chance and seeing them flourish. He loved helping old friends who’d been cut adrift by an ever-changing industry. A few days before the heats I ran two runs to the fifth hurdle and was timed to 200m,” he says. “John Cooper, who was a silver medallist in the Tokyo 1964 Olympics, kindly offered to run on the lane inside me on the flat to help with my speed. I ran the first as hard as I could, under control, in 22.2 at 200m. The second was run at what I hoped would be race pace if the weather was good on the day of the final. That came out at 22.8 at 200m.” I remember being petrified. As I looked around, I knew five [other runners in the final] had run faster than me.

As an athlete, she was still improving. She probably would have followed a golden path through several more Olympics, potentially as far as Moscow 1980. Today she may well have been involved at the heart of affairs for London 2012. Emers left an indelible impression on all those he encountered on his remarkable journey through life. He will be greatly missed – but never forgotten. Charlie Sale Adored by the whole country, Lillian Board was smart, bubbly, talented, gorgeous and very, very fast. She has streets named after her in Ealing and Greenford. She is remembered too at Munich’s Olympic stadium. I wonder if our London 2012 Committee has any plans to commemorate her? I think they should.* But he was also just as engaging away from the workplace. He enjoyed life to the full, always first to the bar and the first to suggest a sporting challenge, and, of course with a sizeable side bet to boot.There has been some talk about women's sportswear in the modern era. I'm not worried that Jess Ennis-Hill wears a bikini. If she's comfortable in it and it gives her freedom of movement to enhance her performance then all good, I say.