Obituary - John Macdonald, sprint coach whose daughter won Olympic bronze

Died: July 16, 2016

JOHN Macdonald, who has died aged 89, was a widely respected sprint coach who mentored many champions as well as younger and less well-known athletes. British junior hurdles representative Jack Lawrie, double Scottish sprint champion Ryan Oswald, Scottish sprint and hurdles champion Francis Smith and British Olympic sprinter Ian Mackie all came under his wing.

The athletics world first heard of John Macdonald in 1980 when his younger daughter Linsey reached the Moscow Olympic 400 metres final and won a relay bronze medal at the age of 16.

Unable to travel to Moscow because of visa problems, Mr Macdonald went on for more than 35 years to give back selflessly to the sport which had brought unexpected fame to his family, beloved club and to Dunfermline.

He took on Ian Mackie from the age of 13 and took him right through to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, where he reached the 100 metres semi-finals. “He totally shaped my life,” said Mackie.

Born John Alexander Wood Tarrel Macdonald in Inverkeithing, he left school at the age of 13 and saw service with the RAF at the end of the Second World War, including three years in the desert in Egypt, where he was in charge of prisoners of war. Indeed his family once received disturbing news when a telegram arrived to say he had died but it turned out to be an elderly uncle of the same name.

Later he joined the Merchant Navy as a chartered engineer and visited many parts of the world including Hong Kong.

Coming back to dry land he took up a post with Scottish Power at Hunterston Nuclear Power Station in Ayrshire, where he became a trouble-shooter, though he continued to live in Dunfermline, first at Witch Brae, then in Townhill where he moved with his late wife Helen when she became ill.

Mr Macdonald’s daughter Linsey said her father’s commitment to athletics never wavered.

“He never coached me - he didn’t started till I was finished - but he was always there for me,” said Linsey, now a doctor in Hong Kong.

“He loved seeing his athletes doing well and after his retirement even stepped up his commitment to five or six times a week - he loved travelling to watch them, going with Jack Lawrie to Sweden only last year.”

Norman Gardiner, the former Pitreavie AAC president and club coach, said Mr Macdonald’s death was a sad loss.

Mr Macdonald’s coaching exploits were eventually recognised and among the awards he received were Scottish Sports Hero (2012) and Scottish Coach of the Year (2012) and Fife Coach of the Year (2016).

An accomplished angler - he represented Scotland in both Italy and New Zealand - Mr Macdonald, if not quite a fitness fanatic, was always very active and his pursuits included cycling, golf, swimming, free weights and Munro bagging.

For a long time a member of a walking group of former work colleagues, he would happily provide friends with, according to one, a “not always perfect” route map.

John Macdonald is survived by two daughters, Rhona, the elder who lives in Dunfermline and has two children, Neil and Kerry and Linsey, who has two boys, Hamish and Fergus.