Walker won the 1500m at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.

 

He became the first man to run the mile in under three minutes 50 seconds when he set a world mark of 3min 49.4sec at Gothenburg in 1975.

Walker also became the first athlete to run 100 sub-four minute miles. When he retired aged 39 he had beaten four minutes for the mile on 135 occasions.
 

In 1996, Walker announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

 

He later dedicated himself to community work, becoming a councillor in the city of Manukau near Auckland, heading the children's charity Variety and establishing the John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation.
 

Walker's honour, which makes him Sir John Walker, recognises his contributions to sport and the community.

 

He received the OBE in the 1976 New Year's honours and the CBE in the 1992 Queen's Birthday honours.
 

Walker said his work with sick children had helped him tackle his own illness.
 

Walker said: "I'd had this great career in running and then to go into the hospitals and to see kids with leukaemia or heart problems, well, it makes you think.

 

"It helped me tackle Parkinson's because you realise there are people, kids, much worse off."
 

Walker is the third prominent New Zealand track athlete to be honoured after Olympic 5,000mchampion Murray Halberg and three-time Olympic gold medallist Peter Snell.