Malcolm Rogers: 1944-2026
England Athletics is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our friend, colleague and top technical official Malcolm Rogers. He will be greatly missed by the sport.
Malcolm was one of the best athletics officials in Britain and the world for more than 50 years. Recognised with an MBE in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours, he was central to great athletics events and even recently had been assisting the Birmingham 2026 organising committee plan for this summer’s European Championships.
What made Malcolm so special and so integral was his reliability and efficiency, especially during extremely stressful moments during major events where athletes were bidding to realise their dreams in front of thousands of people in the stands and millions watching on television.
Never one to get flustered, ever, and an extremely calming presence, he worked on every major athletics event in the UK since 2002 in a role of either Competition Director or Competition Administration Manager.
He was Athletics Competition Director for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and, while the athlete performances are immediately felt and remembered as they play out, Malcolm’s impact from being part of those Games has been felt year on year ever since.
In addition to his technical expertise, Malcolm was also a pioneer for equality, diversity and inclusion within the sport. Having officiated at world para athletics events in the 1980s and 1990s, he was involved at the outset of introducing para athletics into mainstream events. Before then in the late 1970s and early 1980s he judged and refereed at the highest level domestically and internationally.
As well as playing a leading role at events, Malcolm’s longevity and service was demonstrated by the many other roles he has had. He served as the national officials' secretary for almost 20 years, was an area technical official for Europe from 1996 to 2013 and a member of UK Athletics’ technical committee since its inception in 2004.
Ask anyone in athletics in the UK, in particular, and they’ll say Malcolm was the very definition of integrity. We were extremely fortunate to know him and send our best to his family at this incredibly sad time.
More information about Malcolm in a recent King's Birthday Honours newspaper article below.
