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Biography: Porritt, Arthur Espie

100 yards, 1923

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100 yards, 1923

A 100-yard race at the New Zealand amateur athletics championships between four New Zealanders, an American and an Australian in 1923 was the country's most famous and thrilling race to that date. The participants were, from left to right, Morris Kirksey (US), Dave Morgan (New Zealand), George Davidson (New Zealand), Slip Carr (Australia), Harry Wilson (New Zealand) and Arthur Porritt (New Zealand). Kirksey and Carr were not eligible for New Zealand titles, but they provided excellent competition. Kirksey was the winner, followed by the spread-eagled Carr. Porritt in third, took the New Zealand title. Porritt went on to greater things at the 1924 Olympics, when he came third in the 100 metres.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: fMS-Papers-9619-04

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page

Diana Beaglehole. 'Porritt, Arthur Espie', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000, updated May 2002. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/47481/100-yards-1923 (accessed 4 June 2026).