William "Willie" D. Davenport was an American sprint runner. He attended Howland High School and college at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He competed in the 110 m hurdles at the 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in 1968 and a bronze in 1976, and finishing fourth in 1972. In 1980 he took part in the Winter Olympics as a runner for the American bobsleigh team. Because of the boycott, and the quirk of participating in the Winter Olympics, he was the only U.S. track and field athlete to participate in the 1980 Olympics.
Frank Charles Shorter is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the achievements of other American runners, is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States during the 1970s.
Harvey Edward Glance was an American sprint runner. He won gold medals in tandem with his teammates at the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1979 and 1987 Pan American Games, and 1987 World Championships.
Steven Earl Riddick is an American athlete and winner of the gold medal in 4×100 meter relay at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
James Tully Beatty is a former American track and field athlete and North Carolina politician. He is best remembered as the first person to break the four-minute mile barrier on an indoor track, when he ran 3:58.9 on February 10, 1962, at the Los Angeles Invitational in the Los Angeles Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. He competed in the men's 5000 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
The United States of America has sent many athletes to the celebration of the Olympic Games, starting with the first modern Olympics held in 1896. The United States has sent athletes to every Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
John Carl Godina is an American shot putter, whose record includes three World Championship wins and two Olympic medals. He also competes in discus. Godina was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Arnie Paul Robinson Jr. was an American athlete. He won a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1972 Olympics and a gold medal in 1976.
Dwight Edwin Stones is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former three-time world record holder in the men's high jump. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championships. In 1984, Stones became the first athlete to both compete and serve as an announcer at the same Olympics. Since then, he has been a color analyst for all three major networks in the United States and continues to cover track and field on television. He served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of Track and Field at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is a member of the US Track Hall of Fame, the California Sports Hall of Fame, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the Orange County Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
James Randel "Randy" Matson is an American track and field athlete who mostly competed in the shot put. Matson won a silver medal at the 1964 and a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics.
Earl Holmes Bell is a retired American pole vaulter. He competed at the 1976, 1984 and 1988 Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1984, placing fourth in 1988 and sixth in 1976.
George Woods was an American athlete who mainly competed in the shot put. Born in Portageville, Missouri, he moved to Sikeston, Missouri, as a baby. As a senior at Sikeston High School, Woods became the first Missouri high school athlete to top 60 ft, setting a Sikeston school record that still stands to this day. He would go on to attend Southern Illinois University.
George L. Young was an American track athlete and college coach. He won a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 3000 meter steeplechase and held several American records in events ranging from the two mile to the 5000 meter race. He broke two world records, in the indoor two and three mile events.
Rick Wohlhuter is a retired American middle-distance runner.
James J. Robinson Jr. is a former American middle distance runner. He was the dominant American 800 meters runner from the mid-1970s through the mid 1980s. He ran in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, finishing fifth in his semi-final and not making the final. He was on the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team that did not get to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.
James Archibald Barrineau, Jr. is an American high jumper.
James Doyle Bolding, II was an American track and field athlete, primarily known for the 400 metres hurdles.
Mark Edward Lutz is an American former sprinter. He ran for his home country in the 200 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics, finishing 5th in his qualifying heat.
Charles Douglas Brown is a retired American track and field athlete, whose specialty was the Steeplechase.
Jeff Bennett is a native of Vinita, Oklahoma. He is an American former decathlete who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics.
