Full Name       Robin Sparks
Date of Birth   13 November 1937
Place of Birth  Huddersfield, Yorkshire
Father          Franklin Sparks
Mother          Joan Sparks (née Belasco, later Hirst)
Marital Status  Married (6/7/77, Sheila Anne Woodhouse)
Children        Son : Paul Andrew, 11/9/63
                (previous marriage - Heather Ann Follows, 1960)
                Step-sons : Julian Anthony Knowles, 27/10/65
                            Duncan Andrew Knowles, 6/12/67
                Step-daughter : Ceri Ann Knowles, 19/2/72

Schools         Eardenstowe, Wisborough Green, Sussex (evacuation), 1942-44
                Bankfield, Ainsworth (near Bolton), 1944-45, moving to
                Park Hill, Whitefield (near Manchester), 1945-49
                St.Mary Abbots Primary, Kensington, 1949
                Sloane School, Chelsea, 1949-57 
College         University College London, 1957-60

Qualifications  B.Sc. (Statistics) - University College London, 1960

Profession      Data Processing Consultant
                Programming skills - COBOL, FORTRAN, FILETAB, SQL, etc.
                Operating systems - ORACLE, UNISYS, VAX-VMS, MS-DOS 

Career History  English Electric/British Aircraft Corporation, 1960-63
                British Petroleum, 1963-1990
                DP Consultant with BP, 1990-92
                I.A.A.F., DP Assistant, 1993

Domiciles       1937  Huddersfield
                1938  Finsbury Park, London
                1940  Norwich
                1942  Wisborough Green
                1944  Ainsworth
                1945  Whitefield, near Manchester
                1949  West Kensington, Fulham
                1954  Chiswick
                1958  Chelsea
                1960  Stevenage
                1963  Worcester Park
                1986  Ewell

Athletics Administration Career

Statistics      National Union of Track Statisticians
                  (Founder member 1958;  Chairman 1974-79)
                Association of Track & Field Statisticians
                  (Elected 1958;  President since 1977-2000)
                Editor, British Athletics Annual, 1964-1977
                A.A.A. Statistician
                Statistician to ITV, 1971-1985
                I.A.A.F. Press Commission (1989-95)

Announcing      First domestic meeting :- L.A.C. Schools, 1958
                First International meeting :- England v Russia, 1961
                A.A.A. Championships 1962-1998

                Major International events
                1970  Commonwealth Games (Edinburgh)
                1973  European Cup Final (Edinburgh)
                1975  European Cup Final (Nice) - Announcer's assistant
                1977  European Cup Semi-final (Crystal Palace)
                1983  European Cup Final (Crystal Palace)
                1986  Commonwealth Games (Edinburgh) - Chief Announcer
                1987  European Junior Championships (Birmingham)
                      World Championships (Rome)
                1988  IAAF/Mobil Grand Prix Final (Berlin)
                1989  European Cup Final (Gateshead)
                      World Cup (Barcelona)
                1990  World Junior Championships (Plovdiv)
                      European Championships (Split)
                1991  World Indoor Championships (Seville)
                      IAAF/Mobil Grand Prix Final (Barcelona)
                1992  Olympic Games (Barcelona)
                1994  European Indoor Championships (Paris)
                      European Cup (Birmingham)
                      European Championships (Helsinki)
                      World Cup (Crystal Palace)
                1995  World Indoor Championships (Barcelona)
                      World Championships (Gothenburg)
                1997  World Indoor Championships (Paris)
                      World Championships (Athens)
                1998  European Cup, Group A (Budapest)
                      European Championships (Budapest)
                      World Cup (Johannesburg)

Other Duties    Photo-finish technician (BAAB & AAA) from 1974

                Statistics
                1993  World Championships (Stuttgart)
                      - Database administration
                1996  Olympic Games (Atlanta)
                      - Database administration
                      - Statistician to Technical Delegates

Leukaemia Treatment

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