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FOLKESTONE'S LITTLE MOUSE OLYMPIC CHAMPION DIES

British athletics has lost o­ne of its all-time greats and o­ne of its finest characters with the death last week, aged 73, of Olympic Gold Medallist Don Thompson.

Don took part in many races in East Kent and competed for Folkestone Running Club into his seventies.

Back in 1960, when he scuttled into the Stadio Olimpico to win the 50km walk gold medal at the Rome Olympics, the Italian public were captivated by the curious little Englishman, an insurance clerk from Cranfield in Middlesex, with his sunglasses and his French legionnaire's hat. Il Topolino, they called him - The Little Mouse.

His funeral will take place at Aldershot Crematorium o­n Wednesday 18 October.