View source for Stan Lay

{{short description|New Zealand javelin thrower}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name             = Stan Lay
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE|size=100%}}
|image=Jack Metcalfe, Jim Courtright, Stan Lay 1938b-cr.jpg
|caption=Lay (right) at the 1938 British Empire Games
| birth_name       = Stanley Arthur Lay
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1906|7|27|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[New Plymouth]], [[New Zealand]]<ref name=sr>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418051038/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/stan-lay-1.html Stan Lay]. sports-reference.com</ref>
| death_date       = {{death-date and age|12 May 2003|27 July 1906}}
| death_place      = New Plymouth, New Zealand 
| residence        = 
| education        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = 
| years_active     = 
| spouse           = 
| height           = {{convert|5|ft|10|in|m|2|abbr=on|order=flip}}<ref>{{cite news | url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19300628.2.120 | title=Empire Games: N.Z. representatives | date=28 June 1930 | work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]]| access-date=9 July 2017 | page=13}}</ref>| weight           = <!-- {{convert||kg|lb|abbr=on}} -->
| sport            = Athletics
|event=[[Javelin throw]]
|pb= 67.89 m (1928)<ref name=sr/><ref name=tf>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=3796&Gender=M Stanley Lay]. trackfield.brinkster.net</ref>
| club             = Wanganui Taranaki 
| medaltemplates   =
{{MedalCountry | {{NZL}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Commonwealth Games]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1930 British Empire Games|1930 Hamilton]]|Javelin throw}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1938 British Empire Games|1938 Sydney]]|Javelin throw}}
}}

'''Stanley Arthur Lay''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE|size=85%}} (27 July 1906 – 12 May 2003) was a New Zealand [[javelin throw]]er who competed at the [[1928 Summer Olympics]], [[1930 British Empire Games]], [[1938 British Empire Games]], and [[1950 British Empire Games]].

== Biography ==
Lay won the British [[AAA Championships]] title in the javelin throw event at the [[1928 AAA Championships]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005049/19280707/246/0012 |title=Peltzer fails to come back |work=London Daily Chronicle |date=7 July 1928 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003213/19280709/311/0015 |title=Champions of the AAA |work=Daily News (London)  |date=9 July 1928 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=5 January 2025 }}</ref> Shortly afterwards he represented Great Britain at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where he finished [[Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw|seventh]] in the javelin.

Lay's best throw of 67.89 m was achieved in [[London]] on 7 July 1928 prior to the 1928 Olympics.<ref name=tf/> Officials thought he had broken the world record, but they had overlooked [[Eino Penttilä]]'s record throw of 69.88 the previous year. Lay's throw remained the Commonwealth record for 26 years.<ref name=Heidenstrom>Heidenstrom, P. (1992) ''Athletes of the Century.'' Wellington: GP Publications. {{ISBN|1-86956-044-2}}</ref>

He represented [[New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games|New Zealand]] at the [[1930 British Empire Games]], where he won a gold medal.  He later won a silver in 1938, and placed sixth in 1950.

Lay was a signwriter at [[Stratford, New Zealand|Stratford]], and could not afford the time off to go to the [[1934 British Empire Games]] in London. At the 1950 Empire Games Lay took the oath on behalf of all competitors.<ref name=Heidenstrom/>

In the [[1988 New Year Honours (New Zealand)|1988 New Year Honours]], Lay was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]], for services to sport.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=51173 |date=31 December 1987 |page=34 |supp=3}}</ref> Two years later he was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=obit/><ref name=hall/>

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=hall>[http://www.nzhalloffame.co.nz/Inductees/L/Stan-Lay.aspx Stan Lay (1906–2003)]. [[New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame]].</ref>
<ref name=obit>[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=3502393 Obituary: Stanley Arthur Lay]. ''New Zealand Herald'' (16 May 2003).</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
*{{Commons category-inline|Stan Lay}}
* {{cite book | last = McMillan | first = Neville | year = 1993 |publisher= Moa Beckett |location=Auckland | title = New Zealand Sporting Legends: 27 Pre-War Sporting Heroes|pages=74–78|isbn=1-869580-14-1}}
*[http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/Gov12_12Rail-fig-Gov12_12Rail039a.html Photo of Stan Lay, 1930s]
*''[http://pukeariki.com/Learning-Research/Taranaki-Research-Centre/Taranaki-Stories/Taranaki-Story/id/653/title/stan-lay-flies-higher Stan Lay Flies Higher],'' portrait by Virginia Winder, website of [[Puke Ariki]], 13 August 2004{{dead link|date=October 2024}}

{{1928 New Zealand Olympic team}}
{{1930 New Zealand British Empire Games team}}
{{1938 New Zealand British Empire Games team}}
{{1950 New Zealand British Empire Games team}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions Javelin Men}}
{{Footer New Zealand NC javelin men}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lay, Stan}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:New Zealand male javelin throwers]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for New Zealand]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1930 British Empire Games]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1938 British Empire Games]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Stratford, New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from New Plymouth]]
[[Category:Medallists at the 1930 British Empire Games]]
[[Category:Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand sportsmen]]
[[Category:New Zealand Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics]]

{{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub}}