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David Peter Hemery, CBE, is a British former athlete, winner of the 400m hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
He was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but his father's work took the family to the United States, where he attended school and graduated from Boston University. At one point the family had returned to Britain for a time, and Hemery moved back and forth across the Atlantic during his training.
Hemery's first International title came at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, where he won the 120 yd hurdles in 14.1 seconds, a title he retained four years later at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.
At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, Hemery won the 400m hurdles in 48.12 seconds, a new world record. His margin of victory was the largest since the 1924, beating second-placed Gerhard Hennige from West Germany by almost a second. BBC coverage of the race is notorious for the words of the commentator David Coleman, shortly after Hemery crossed the line: "who cares who's third - it doesn't matter!" Hemery's British teammate John Sherwood turned out to be the bronze medal winner in a close finish that had to be settled by slow motion replay. It was an early example of so-called Colemanballs. Hemery's performance helped him win the 1968 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
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