Australia mourns death of 'humble champion' John Landy, 91

The Australian athletics community is mourning the death of one of its greatest stars, John Landy, at the age of 91.

Landy passed away at his home in Castlemaine, Victoria on Thursday following a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease, with his family by his side.

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A towering figure both in Australian sport during his youth, but also in government when he served as Governor of Victoria from 2001 to 2006, Landy has been remembered as a stately man who was often somewhat uneasy with his impressive athletic achievements.

Originally having his sights set on playing football, Landy shot to prominence after winning a place on the Victorian athletics team in 1951.

Just 12 months later he would compete for Australia at the Helsinki Olympics, and soon afterwards begin his famous rivalry with England's Roger Bannister, as the two battled to become the first to run a four-minute mile.

Though Bannister would eventually lay claim to that mark first, with a time of 3:59.4, Landy soon shattered that record by two seconds some months later.

The pair eventually came head to head in a highly anticipated event at the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver dubbed the 'Race of the Century' - which Bannister would memorably win.

Landy, meanwhile, pushed on to the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games where he was the favourite to win the "metric mile", the 1500m.

It was in the lead-up to those Games that Landy earned his almost mythical place in Australian sporting folklore.

Running in the Australian Mile Championship in 1956, Landy was in a winning position when fellow athlete Ron Clarke tripped and fell in front of him with about a lap and a half to go.

Landy leapt over Clarke and then turned back to help his rival to his feet, a gesture that cost him valuable seconds and around 50 metres.

After checking on Clarke, he got going again, circled the field and won a race that assured him a place in the Australian Olympic team.

In time, Landy came to view it less gloriously than most, describing it as "that silly race when I whizzed back to Ron Clarke".

"I reacted on the spur of the moment. I ran down his arm with my spikes when I was jumping over him. That's why I went back.

"A lot of people seemed to think it was the most significant thing I ever did in running. It wasn't."

John Landy celebrated for extensive scientific achievements, athletic prowess

By his own admission, he would have preferred to be remembered as simply a good runner.

Or for becoming the 26th Governor of Victoria, an office he discharged with the same dignity and good sense that characterised his life.

Or for his work on the Australian Sports Commission. Or his writings on nature.

Or perhaps even for creating one of his country's finest butterfly collections.

For John Michael Landy may have been one of the greatest middle-distance runners of his era, but he was much more - a capable scientist, an author, a humanitarian, a husband and a father.

Landy duly ran at the 1956 Melbourne Games, finishing third behind the Irishman Ron Delany.

It was to be the last shot Landy would have at a major international title.

Landy went on to work in the field of agricultural science, a subject he studied at Melbourne University, and held various positions in sporting and community organisations.

In 2001 he became the Queen's man in Victoria, serving for five years with typical generosity and openness.

The same qualities, perhaps, led Landy to donate his butterflies, some 10,000 of them, personally collected and catalogued, and estimated to be worth at least $1 million, to the Australian National Museum in 2017.

Landy leaves his wife Lynne and children Matthew and Alison.

With AAP

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