In 1948, Gene Cole set a national high school record in 440 yards. He did not compete again until 1952 for Ohio State, where he placed fifth in the national AAU, which qualified him for the Olympic Tryouts. There, placing second, he […]
George Henry Brown, Jr. was the favorite to win the broad jump (now called the long jump) in the 1952 Olympics. Going into the Olympic Tryouts, he had won 41 events in a row. He placed third in the Tryouts. He was […]
Art Bragg was the favorite going into the Olympic 100-meter dash. In the United States Olympic Tryouts at the end of June 1952, he had placed first about a foot ahead of second place. Jim Golliday had been Bragg’s strongest competition, but […]
American Jerome Biffle of the University of Denver earned a gold medal in the Men’s Broad Jump, now known as the long jump. In 1950, he was the NCAA Broad Jump winner. In 1951, he put on the United States Army uniform. […]
Roland Blackman served in the Army Signal Corp outside Nuremberg, Germany, possibly in Augsburg. From New Orleans, Roland never competed in athletics prior to joining the Army. In 1951, Blackman won the 400-meter hurdles in Rome in an allied service meet. He […]
Art Barnard was Thane Baker’s roommate at the Paramount Hotel, July 3-7, 1952, in New York City prior to leaving for the Helsinki Olympics. One evening, a magician came to the hotel and performed for the guests. He used Barnard as a […]
Like many Olympic athletes, Bob Backus overcame adversity. For him, it was spinal meningitis. Although he tried to join the Army Air Corp during World War II, they disqualified him for being too thin. In 1948, Bob Backus stood six feet five […]
Walt Ashbaugh won fourth in the hop, step, and jump in the Olympics. He went farther than any American had ever jumped in the Olympics up to that time. In 1952, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) did not include the Hop, […]
John Barnes of Occidental College won the 1952 NCAA 800-meter run. In the Olympic Tryouts, he placed second with the same time as Reggie Pearman, who came in third. In the Olympic semi-finals, Barnes placed fourth, missing the finals by four-tenths of […]
Robert Leroy “Bobby” Bickle, born March 27, 1929, in Hoisington, Kansas, spent a few years of his childhood in Elkhart, Kansas, where he met Thane Baker. Baker recalls a fight in front of Elkhart High School, where Bickle took on and won […]
Arnold Lee “Arny” Betton ranked seventh in the world in 1952. After he failed to qualify in the high jump finals, Betton told reporters “I just don’t know what happened to me. I’ve been jumping better than that all year.” Gold medalist […]
The small European country of Luxembourg sent Josef Henri “Josy” Barthel to the XV Olympiad in Helsinki, Finland. Counting both winter and summer Olympics, Luxembourg has only one two gold medals, and the French Olympic team claimed one of those medals. Olympic […]
Emmanuel McDonald “McDonald” or “Mac” Bailey, Great Britain, was born in 1920, emigrated from Trinidad to compete for Great Britain in the 1948 Olympics, where he earned sixth in the 100 meters with a throat infection (behind Harrison Dillard’s gold medal in […]
FBI man, Horace “Nip” Ashenfelter is the only American to ever win the Olympic 3,000-meter Steeplechase.* He did so while setting an Olympic record and running the fastest time ever run in that event. His brother, William “Bill” Ashenfelter, also competed in […]
Facts and Resources William “Bill” Ashenfelter placed second in the 1952 United States Olympic Tryouts behind his brother, Horace Ashenfelter. Both competed for the New York Athletic Club. The year before, Bill had been an AAU National Cross-Country Champion. Bill did not […]