Former England and GB hammer thrower dies, aged 44

Doncaster Athletic Club members will hold a minute's silence before tomorrow night's training session at the track to mark the passing of hammer thrower Steve Minnikin.
Doncaster Athletic ClubDoncaster Athletic Club
Doncaster Athletic Club

Steve, who was 44, represented both England and Great Britain at Under-23 and senior level during a career which also saw him make over 200 appearances for Yorkshire.

He last competed for the club in 2012 – a year after setting several vet-35 world records.

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“We hadn’t seen him at the track since then,” said club chairman Kev Lincoln.

“I think he became a bit disillusioned by the lack of facilities for the hammer following our move to the Keepmoat Stadium.

“But he did attend last year’s presentation night when he presented the inaugural Bernard Minnikin Family Cup.

“Bernard was still the club’s throws coach at the time of his sudden death and I know it hit Steve hard, as it did all of us at the club.”

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He added: “I wrote to him to present the trophy again earlier this month but he never got back to me so I suspected something might be wrong but I don’t know the circumstances of his death.”

Tomorrow’s event (6.30pm) will be attended by members of Steve‘s family.

Like his father, Steve also had experience in coaching hammer and weight throws up to county level.