Harold Tyrie

Harold Joffre Tyrie was a New Zealand track and field athlete who won a bronze medal at the 1938 British Empire Games. He also played representative rugby union for.

Early life and family

Born in Dunedin on 3 August 1915, Tyrie was the son of William Leslie Tyrie and Annie Tyrie. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School from 1929 to 1932. On 27 September 1940, he married Phyllis Mary McClelland at St John's Church, Millers Flat, and the couple went on to have three daughters.

Athletics

Representing Otago, Tyrie won the New Zealand national 440 yards title three times: in 1936, 1939, and 1940. At the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney, he finished sixth in the final of the men's 440 yards, and was a member of the New Zealand quartet in the men's 4 x 440 yards relay that won the bronze medal.
He later turned to coaching, and trained athletes including Don Jowett and Robin Tait.

Rugby union

A second-row forward from the Southern Rugby Football Club in Dunedin, Tyrie played two representative rugby union games for Otago, in 1938 and 1941.

Military service

Tyrie graduated from the 12th Officer Cadet Training Unit in September 1942 and was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the New Zealand Infantry. Later, in 1944, with the rank of corporal, Tyrie was wounded in Italy while serving with the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Later life and death

In later life, Tyrie was a ceramic artist of some note. He died in Christchurch on 22 February 2007.