Sunday Herald reports

Scot who created the launchpad to success

Alasdair Reid
Rugby reporter
When the world's fastest men take their places on the start line for the Olympic 100m final tonight, it's hard to imagine that any of them give more than a passing thought to the starting blocks beneath their feet.


But as mundane as those pieces of kit might seem, the Scot who brought them into common use must rank as one of the most colourful characters that sport has ever produced.

His name was Henry Rottenburg and he was born in Glasgow, the son of a chemical merchant, in October 1875. His privileged background saw him educated at Kelvinside Academy, Loretto and King's College Cambridge, while his talent for rugby led to him winning the first of five caps for Scotland against Wales in 1899.

A magazine of the time described Rottenburg as 'quite the most brilliant full-back of the day'. Asked, in turn, for his opinion on rugby, Rottenburg replied that "it is quite the finest form of recreation extant – not only as a game, but as a moral agent." Clearly, he already had his mind on other things.

Rottenburg's rugby career ended after he won the last of his caps, against England, in 1900, and moved to the USA, where he joined the Westinghouse company in Pittsburgh. Rottenburg was essentially on an extended training course and he duly returned to Britain two years later to take up a post at the company's newly-built works near Manchester.

Commerce, however, was never going to satisfy the enquiring mind of a man like Rottenburg. By 1904, he was back at Cambridge as a lecturer in electrical engineering, where he would remain – excepting a two-year sabbatical with the gloriously-named JL Submersible Motor Co – until his death in 1955.

As time went by his exploits as an inventor became a far more significant diversion in his life. What exercised his mind most was the possibility of using technology in the field of sport. Measurement devices seemed to obsess Rottenburg, but as the 1948 Olympics loomed he turned his attention to starting blocks. Rudimentary and home-made devices had been around for a few years by then, but their use was outlawed by many authorities.

However, the 1948 Games were the first to allow proper blocks. Rottenburg set to work and came up with the design that, in essence, had all the significant features of the blocks that are still in use today. It was mobile and, more importantly, adjustable. Crucially, it could be anchored to the track to eliminate the risk of slippage. Everything since has been an evolution of his original design.

This article was posted on 5-Aug-2012, 17:53 by Hugh Barrow.