Ron Whitney

Last updated

Ron Whitney
Ron Whitney 1968.jpg
Personal information
Born (1942-10-05) October 5, 1942 (age 81)
Modesto, California, United States
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)400 m, 400 m hurdles
Club Southern California Striders, Anaheim
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)400 m – 46.6 (1967)
880 yd – 1:48.6 (1963)
400 mH – 49.06 (1968)
Medal record
Representing the Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1967 Winnipeg 400 m hurdles
Summer Universiade
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1967 Tokyo 400 m hurdles
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1965 Budapest 400 m hurdles

Ronald Howard "Ron" Whitney (born October 5, 1942) is a retired American hurdler and sprinter. Known for his fast finish, he was sixth in the 400 m hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics. [1] He had entered the race as one of the favorites, [2] having been ranked #1 in the world in 1967 [3] and winning the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the event for the second time earlier that year. [4] At the Olympics, his first heat victory established a new Olympic record, only to be surpassed by David Hemery two days later. [5]

Previously he had been the Pan American Games champion in the same event. [6] While working on his master's degree at Colorado State University, he was the 1967 Gold Medalist at the World University Games. He also had won bronze two years earlier [5] and while competing for Occidental College, where he was coached by Jim Bush, was runner up at the NCAA Championships in 1963.

At Thomas Downey High School in Modesto, California, [7] Whitney was the champion at the 1960 Golden West Invitational, the equivalent of a national champion, at 800 m, [8] a week after finishing fourth in the CIF California State Meet in the same event. [9]

Whitney continued to compete into masters age groups as a pioneer of masters athletics. [10]

Whitney continues to be involved in the sport as head track and field coach at Santa Rosa Junior College. [11] He is a member of the Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame and the Occidental College Hall of Fame. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Thomson</span> Canadian hurdler

Earl John "Tommy" Thomson was a Canadian athlete, a specialist in the high hurdles. In 1920 he became the first Olympic gold medalist in 110 m hurdles from outside the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Félix Sánchez (hurdler)</span>

Félix Sánchez, is a retired Dominican-American track and field athlete. He is of Dominican descent, was born and raised in the United States, and competed for the Dominican Republic, specializing in the 400 meter hurdles. He is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, winning gold in 2004 and 2012, and was also World Champion in 2001 and 2003. Just before turning 36, he set the Masters M35 World Record with a time of 48.10. Sanchez acquired many nicknames: "Super Felix", "the Invincible", "Superman", and "the Dictator".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hemery</span> British hurdler

David Peter Hemery, is a British former track and field athlete, best known as the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry James</span>

George Larry James was an American track athlete. At the 1968 Olympics he won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay and a silver in the individual 400 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Davis (hurdler)</span> American hurdler

Jack Wells Davis was an American track and field hurdler, silver medalist in the 1952 and 1956 Olympics over 110-meter hurdles. Davis lost to Harrison Dillard in 1952 with the same time as the winner, and lost to Lee Calhoun in 1956, again with the same time as the winner. He set a new world record 13.4 in a heat at the AAU in 1956.

Percy Morris Beard was an American college and international track and field athlete who specialized in the high hurdles event, and won an Olympic silver medal. Beard later became a nationally prominent college track and field coach at the University of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stacy Dragila</span> American pole vaulter

Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila is a former American pole vaulter. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple-time world champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Cromwell</span> American sports coach (1879–1962)

Dean Bartlett Cromwell, nicknamed "Maker of Champions", was an American athletic coach in multiple sports, principally at the University of Southern California (USC). He was the head coach of the USC track team from 1909 to 1948, excepting 1914 and 1915, and guided the team to 12 NCAA team national championships and 34 individual NCAA titles. He was the head coach for the U.S. track team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, and assistant head coach for the U.S. track team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanette Bolden</span> American Olympic athlete

Jeanette Bolden is an American Olympic athlete who formerly competed in the 100 metres. She was the head coach of the track and field team at the University of Central Florida. She is the co-owner of the 27th Street Bakery in Los Angeles, which is best known for the sweet potato, pecan and sweet potato pecan pies.

Janeene Hope Vickers-McKinney is an American former athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres hurdles. She won bronze medals in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1992 Olympic Games and the 1991 World Championships. She also won the 1990 US Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Culbreath</span> American hurdler (1932–2021)

Joshua Culbreath was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 meter hurdles—the national outdoor champion from 1953 to 1955; three-time winner of the event in the Penn Relays in the same years, and Olympic bronze medal winner in 1956, while he was serving in the U.S. Marine Corps; and world record holder in 1957. Culbreath was inducted into the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Barton Williams is an American former hurdler. He attended California Polytechnic State University from 1975–1979. Williams is one of Cal Poly's all-time greatest track and field athletes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Vessey</span> American middle-distance runner

Maggie Vessey is an American athlete who competes in middle distance track events. Vessey represented the United States at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and 2011 World Championships in Athletics in the 800 m.

The Southern California Striders is a track and field athletics club based in Los Angeles, California. From its foundation in 1955 through the 1980s it was an elite club producing numerous national and Olympic champions. For a time in the 1970s it was called the Tobias Striders for sponsorship reasons. From the 1990s to 2006 the club was restricted to masters athletics and still produces national champions in older age classes. After 2006 it became a nonprofit open to all ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoff Vanderstock</span> American hurdler

Geoffrey Peter "Geoff" Vanderstock is an American track and field athlete primarily known for running hurdles. He was once the world record holder in the 400 metres hurdles. His 48.94 was set at the high altitude United States Olympic Trials at Echo Summit, California, on September 11, 1968. He was the first man to run the event under 49 seconds. The hand time took .3 off the previous record held by Rex Cawley. A month later at the 1968 Summer Olympics, he finished 4th in a tight race between 2nd place and 4th place, and given a time of 49.06, while watching David Hemery demolish his world record running 48.12. See the Olympic race on YouTube

Reginald Wyatt is an American hurdler. He is the current holder of the NFHS record in the 300 meters intermediate hurdles at 35.02, set while winning a preliminary race at the CIF California State Meet on June 5, 2009 at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California. Wyatt won the State Meet the following day, but his time of 36.71 was not destined to be record material after he also won the 400 metres in 46.13 earlier at the same meet.

Tom Moore was a National Track and Field Hall of Fame track and field promoter, known for his decades of service as meet director of the Modesto Relays.

Ernest Nicholas Newton Carter was an American track and field athlete, coach and official. He ran the 1500 metres in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, finishing a non-qualifying 3rd place in his heat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kori Carter</span> American hurdler

Kori Carter is an American track and field athlete specializing in hurdle races, the World Champion in the 400 metres hurdles event in 2017. Kori Carter was a nine-time All-American at Stanford University sponsored by Jordan Brand.

Jarvis Lavonne Scott was an American sprinter. She competed in the women's 400 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics. She qualified by winning the 1968 Olympic Trials. She also finished third in the 800 meters behind eventual gold medalist Madeline Manning but declined her position in that event allowing Francie Kraker to run. She is the first American woman and the last American to qualify for the Olympics in both the 400 and 800.

References

  1. "UKA David Hemery". Ukathletics.org. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  2. "Greatest British Olympic Hurdlers". About Olympics. July 11, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  3. "All-Time World Rankings – Men's 400 Hurdles" (PDF). Trackandfieldnews.com. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  4. "Statistics – USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions". USATF. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Ron Whitney Biography and Olympic Results | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.
  6. Ralph Hickok (November 26, 2011). "History – Pan American Games Track and Field Medalists – Men". HickokSports.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  7. "Clutch Performers". www.oxy.edu. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  8. "Past Champions : 13 Golden West : June : Results : Track : 2009 : DyeStatCal : The Internet Home of California High School Track, Field and Cross Country | DyeStatCal". Archive.dyestatcal.com. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  9. "California State Meet Results – 1915 to present". Hank Lawson. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
  10. "U.S. Masters International Track Team – September 1978" (PDF). Mastershistory.org. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  11. "Santa Rosa Junior College". Santarosa.edu. August 13, 2004. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  12. "Occidental : Occidental College Track and Field Hall of Fame". Oxyathletics.com. Retrieved September 21, 2012.