In 1948, on the then Main Oval at Corio Campus, John Landy AC CVO MBE (M'48) won the 440 yards, 880 yards and the Mile on Sports Day, and was named the School Open Athletics Champion. John would not only go on be a teacher at GGS and an OGG Committee member but the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run, World Record holder for the 1500m and the mile, Olympic medallist, and Governor of Victoria. For many Australians, John is most well-known for his selfless act of sportsmanship when he stopped to assist fallen runner, Ron Clarke, during the 1956 National Championships.

On 26 February 2022, two days after John's passing, Dehne Jones (Cu'63) proposed that the Main Oval at Corio Campus be renamed John Landy Oval. In the following weeks and months, the School received written support for this proposal from many Old Geelong Grammarians, including outgoing OGG President, Ian Coltman (A'77). At last year's Athletics Day, on Sunday 10 September, Principal Rebecca Cody announced the renaming of Main Oval as John Landy Oval. On Sunday, almost 12 months to the day since the name changed was announced, we were delighted to welcome John's family, including his brother Tony Landy (M'53) and sister Sue Manton, to GGS Athletics Day for the unveiling of the John Landy Oval plaque. Quite fittingly, this unveiling took place during the running of the 1500m races. John's family were invited to the Hawker Library following the unveiling, where they viewed a display of artefacts related to John's time at GGS.