Tag Archives: track
Bob Richards
Bob Richards (Track and field. Born, Champaign, IL, Feb. 2, 1926.) The first athlete to appear on the front of a Wheaties cereal box (in 1958), Rev. Robert Richards achieved several unique distinctions in his athletic career. He is the only pole vaulter ever to win the event twice in the Olympic Games, 1948 and 1952. […]
Hannes Kolehmainen
Hannes Kolehmainen (Track. Born, Kuipio, Finland, Dec. 9, 1899; died, Helsinki, Finland, Jan. 11, 1966.) Having won three gold medals in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Hannes Kolehmainen became one of the first famed foreign athletes to venture to New York for the indoor track season. Kolehmainen swept all before him in a time when […]
Gustavus Kirby
Gustavus Kirby (Track and fencing. Born, Philadelphia, PA, Jan. 22, 1874; died, Bedford Hills, NY, Mar. 28, 1956.) In 1896, Gustavus Town Kirby was an I.F.A. fencing champion, but it was as an administrator in track and field that he made his greatest contributions. Kirby ran track at Columbia (1893-95) before attending law school there. […]
Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Nurmi (Track. Born, Turku, Finland, June 13, 1897; died, Helsinki, Finland, Oct. 2, 1973.) Paavo Nurmi had already won six Olympic gold medals and one silver running for Finland when he first appeared in New York in 1925. Nurmi immediately dominated the mile events in the major indoor meets at the Garden, beating reigning […]
Bob Hayes
Bob Hayes (Track. Born, Jacksonville, FL, Dec. 20, 1942; died, Jacksonville, FL, Sept. 18, 2002.) A two-sport athlete at Florida A&M, Robert Lee Hayes became a famous athlete in 1963 and 1964. Hayes set a world record (9.1 seconds) in the 100-yard dash outdoors in 1963. He was the sensation of the 1964 New York […]
Charley Paddock
Charley Paddock (Track. Born, Gainesville, TX, Aug. 11, 1900; died, near Sitka, Alaska Territory, July 21, 1943.) Considered the “world’s fastest human” in the 1920s, Charles William Paddock qualified for three U.S. Olympic teams (1920, 1924, 1928). Paddock won the A.A.U. 100-yard dash in 1921 and 1924, the 220-yard dash in 1920, 1921, and 1924, […]
Robert Gardner
Robert Gardner (Golf, track, racquets. Born, Hinsdale, IL, Apr. 9, 1890; died, Lake Forest, IL, June 21, 1956.) Perhaps the only man ever to win major championships in three significant sports, Robert Gardner was a Yale graduate who was four times a finalist in the national amateur golf championship. Gardner won the golf title in […]
