Ivor Wiggett
Following on from the announcement of Ivor’s passing, I thought I would share a few thoughts of my own. I’m still a relative newcomer to athletics officiating but Ivor was there as a constant presence through the ten or so years I’ve been involved.
I first came across him as a starter at the Met League where I was attending with my club, Ealing Eagles. He was the starter at a number of races and was also a smiling presence., whatever the weather was being thrown at us. As I started volunteering and then officiating for my club Ivor was always there. He was a prolific Starter and beyond that a Starter’s Assistant and Race Adjudicator. He was always so giving with his time. When I began adding starting and “marking” to my qualifications he was always happy to share his experience and answer my myriad of questions.
He always seemed to be happy even when things weren’t moving along quite as expected. On one occasion, at a Watford Open Meeting, Ivor’s voice wasn’t reaching lane 8 for the 400m and the speaker had failed us. I became the starter’s voice for him. A gentle tap and I announced “On Your Marks” and second tap “Set” and then Ivor would start the race with no fuss as if this was a perfectly normal state of affairs.
Since his passing, there have been a number of lovely tributes written about him. Through one of these I also found a lovely article written by Richard Frazier late last year. I have included the links below.
Athletics in London, Middlesex and across the South of England has lost a true gent and it will be strange not to see him at events in the future. I, and all his friends and fellow volunteers, will miss him immensely.
Stuart Pugh
Middlesex AA Officials Secretary