George Davidson (athlete)

George Davidson (8 October 1898 – 25 September 1948) was a New Zealand sprinter and rugby league player.^[1] He competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics and finished fifth in the 200 metres competition.^[2] He also participated in the 100 metres event where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. His Olympic participation was hindered due to the time it took to travel from NZ to Belgium for the games. American athletic coach Ike Kelly said of Davidson that if he was able to coach him for 6 months, he would have turned him into a world champion.^[3]

George Davidson

George Davidson in 1920
Personal information
Born	(1898-10-08)8 October 1898 Auckland, New Zealand
Died	25 September 1948(1948-09-25) (aged 49) Piopio, New Zealand
Playing information
Position	Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1917 City Rovers 1 0 0 0 0 1918–1919 Maritime 20 19 13 0 83 1922–1925 City Rovers 56 39 14 0 145 Total 77 58 27 0 228 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1918–1924 Auckland 15 17 2 0 55
Source: RLP

Davidson's brothers Bill and Ben both represented New Zealand at rugby league, and George himself played for the City and Maritime clubs in the Auckland Rugby League competition and represented Auckland between 1919 and 1922.^[4] George was selected for the 1919 New Zealand tour of Australia but was unable to travel and was replaced by former All Black Dougie McGregor.

George Davidson played for Maritime but after returning from the Antwerp Olympics he requested a transfer to join his brothers on the City Rovers team. Maritime opposed this but the Auckland Rugby League requested that they reconsider and during the 1922 season he was granted a transfer.

He was associated with Sharland and Company Limited for 21 years before leaving in February 1938.^[5]

References

1. "George Davidson". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
2. "George Davidson Biography and Olympic Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
3. "Our Olympic Century by Joseph Romanos – Joseph Romanos & Trio Books Ltd". Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
4. Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.84.
5. "General News". New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22964. 16 February 1938. p. 22. Retrieved 21 June 2021.

Further reading

• McMillan, Neville (1993). New Zealand Sporting Legends: 27 Pre-War Sporting Heroes. Auckland: Moa Beckett. pp. 32–38. ISBN 1-869580-14-1.