Choppy Warburton

[4] Warburton's potential as a runner was identified at 17 by John Duckworth, his employer at Hutch Bank cotton mill.

He won more than 500 first prizes, including 75 cups, visiting venues throughout the north of England, running races from one mile to more than 20, all while working full-time as a warehouseman.

Warburton visited his brother George in the United States in 1880, entering several competitions and acquiring 80 cups and medals.

[8] There is in no proof that Linton was doped but his obituary "by one who knew him" said: I saw him at Tours, halfway through the race, at midnight, where he came in with glassy eyes and tottering limbs, and in a high state of nervous excitement.

[9]Another obituary added: I hear by a side wind that one eminent promoter of professionalism... could, like Hamlet's Father's Ghost, a tale unfold which would cause each individual hair upon the licensing committee of the National Cyclists' Union to stand on end...[10]Arthur Linton was described by the Anti-Doping Forum in Sydney in 2004, as the first reported death of an athlete from drugs in sport, citing strychnine[11] although other sources indicate he died of typhoid.

According to the Lancashire Family History Society: "Choppy has been firmly identified as the instigator of drug-taking in the sport [cycling] in the 19th century.

"[1]The writer Simon Craig said: Arthur Linton was not the only Warburton protege to die young, for Jimmy Michael was only 28 at the time of his rather mysterious death in November 1904.