Christopher's Story
Christopher Wardlaw was born in St Marys, New South Wales, in 1950 and developed into one of Australia’s leading distance runners. At 26, he made his Olympic debut at Montreal 1976, qualifying for the 10,000 metres final and placing 12th before finishing 35th in the marathon. Wardlaw later recorded career bests of 28 minutes, 15.6 seconds for 10,000 metres and 2 hours, 11 minutes, 55 seconds for the marathon. Wardlaw returned to the Olympics at Moscow 1980, finishing 28th in the marathon.
He had also played an influential role in defending Australia’s participation amid pressure to boycott the Games, helping establish the Defend the Olympics Committee and publicly campaigning for athletes to compete. After retiring, Wardlaw became a highly regarded distance-running coach, guiding athletes including Steve Moneghetti and Kerryn McCann. He was also head coach of the Australian athletics team at Sydney 2000, extending his Olympic involvement from competition to coaching and team leadership.
