Oliver Ford (born 27 March 1947) is a retired sprinter who jointly held the 100 metres world record with six other men in 1968, at 10.0s. He matched the then-record in the semi-finals of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics track and field championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico and won the final with a time of 10.1s. [1]
He studied at Southern University, where he was coached by Richard A. Hill, [2] and normally ran 220 yards and 440 yards. [1] After his record run he planned to try for the Olympics, [3] but was ill for the Olympics trials in July 1968, [4] though he was selected to compete at the final selection in Echo Summit that September. [5] He won both the 100-yard dash (in 9.5s) and the 220 yard dash (in 20.5s) at the 1969 NAIA championships in Billings, Montana, where he was named outstanding athlete. [6]
In 1999, he was inducted into the Southern University Hall of Fame. [7] [8]
James Ray Hines was an American track and field athlete and National Football League (NFL) player, who held the 100-meter world record for 15 years. In 1968, he became the first man to officially break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters, and won individual and relay gold at the Mexico City Olympics.
Thomas Edward "Eddie" Tolan, nicknamed the "Midnight Express", was an American track and field athlete who competed in sprints. He set world records in the 100-yard dash and 100 meters event and Olympic records in the 100 meters and 200 meters events. He was the first non-Euro-American to receive the title of the "world's fastest human" after winning gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters events at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In March 1935, Tolan won the 75, 100 and 220-yard events at the World Professional Sprint Championships in Melbourne to become the first man to win both the amateur and professional world sprint championships. In his full career as a sprinter, Tolan won 300 races and lost only 7.
William Harrison "Bones" Dillard was an American track and field athlete, who is the only male in the history of the Olympic Games to win gold in both the 100 meter (sprints) and the 110 meter hurdles, making him the “World’s Fastest Man” in 1948 and the “World’s Fastest Hurdler” in 1952.
Robert Lee Hayes, nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an American sprinter and professional football player. After winning gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics, he played as a split end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. Hayes is the only athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. He was a two-sport standout in college in both track and field and football at Florida A&M University. Hayes was enshrined in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2001 and was selected for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January 2009. Hayes is the second Olympic gold medalist to be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after Jim Thorpe. He once held the world record for the 70-yard dash. He also is tied for the world's second-fastest time in the 60-yard dash. He was once considered the "world's fastest human" by virtue of his multiple world records in the 60-yard, 100-yard, 220-yard, and Olympic 100-meter dashes. He was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
Ralph Cook Craig was an American track and field athlete. He was the winner of the sprint double at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Alvin Christian "Al" Kraenzlein was an American track-and-field athlete known as "the father of the modern hurdling technique". He was the first sportsman in the history of the Olympic games to win four individual gold medals in a single discipline at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. As of 2016, Alvin Kraenzlein is the only track-and-field athlete who has won four individual titles at one Olympics. Kraenzlein is also known for developing a pioneering technique of straight-leg hurdling, which allowed him to set two world hurdle records. He is an Olympic Hall of Fame (1984) and National Track and Field Hall of Fame (1974) inductee.
Andrew William Stanfield was an American sprinter and Olympic gold and silver medallist.
Melvin Emery Patton was an American sprinter, who set the world record of 9.2 seconds in the 100 yard dash in 1948. He also set a 220 yd world record in 1949 on a straightaway of 20.2, breaking the record held by Jesse Owens.
Henry Carr was an American track and field athlete who won two gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Louis Alfred "Pinky" Clarke was an American chemist and former sprinter and track and field athlete, who won a gold medal in the world record time of 41.0 seconds in the 4 × 100 meter relay race at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
John Wesley Carlos is an American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith. He went on to tie the world record in the 100-yard dash and beat the 200 meters world record. After his track career, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Canadian Football League but retired due to injury.
Charles Edward "Charlie" Greene was an American track and field sprinter and winner of the gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Robert Taylor was an American sprinter. He became Olympic champion in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1972 Olympics and placed second in the 100 m final. He is the father of former NFL player Bobby Taylor.
David William Sime was an American sprinter, multi-sport athlete at Duke University, and a pioneering ophthalmologist. He won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Olympic Games, and held several sprint records during the late 1950s.
Silas Edward Southern was an American sprinter and hurdler who won a silver medal in the 400 metres hurdles at 1956 Olympics. He won another silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1959 Pan American Games.
Eric Colquhoun Wilson was an American track and field athlete. He won the first NCAA championship in the 220-yard dash in 1921 and competed for the United States in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was the sports information director at the University of Iowa from 1923 to 1968.
Claude Bracey, known variously as the "Texas Flyer," the "Dixie Flyer," and the "Texas Tornado," was an American sprinter who tied world records in the 100-yard and 100-meter races between 1928 and 1932. He competed for the United States at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and also won the 100-yard and 220-yard sprints at the 1928 NCAA Men's Track and Field Championships.
Lawrence Ronald "Larry" Questad was a track and field athlete from the United States who specialized in sprinting events.
Benjamin Washington Johnson (1914–1992) was an American sprinter who was considered a serious rival to Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens. Known as the "Columbia Comet", Johnson was the United States champion at 100 yards in 1938, but injuries and the outbreak of the Second World War denied him a chance to compete in the Olympics.
Reginald Jones is an American track and field athlete. He is best known for recording a time in 1975 that equalled the then world record in the 100 meter dash and being a member of teams that in 1976 equalled the world records for the 4x220 y and 4 × 200 m relays.