Thane Baker

Last updated
Thane Baker
Personal information
Full nameWalter Thane Baker
BornOctober 4, 1931 (1931-10-04) (age 93)
Elkhart, Kansas, U.S.
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1956 Melbourne 4x100 m relay
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1952 Helsinki 200 metres
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg1956 Melbourne 100 metres
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg1956 Melbourne 200 metres

Walter Thane Baker (born October 4, 1931) is an American former sprinter and winner of the gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, with a new world record of 39.5 seconds. At those Olympics Baker also won a silver medal in the 100-meter and a bronze in the 200-meter. At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, he won a silver medal in the 200-meter. [1]

Biography

Baker was born in Elkhart, Kansas. In 1953, as a Kansas State University student, Baker won the NCAA championship in the 220 yards (200 m), and in 1956 he won the AAU championships in 200 m. Baker also won numerous conference titles at Kansas State, and was a four-time All American.

Before the Melbourne Olympics, Baker equaled Jesse Owens's long-standing 100 m world record time of 10.2 seconds, and also twice equaled the 200 m world record of 20.6. He tied the world record in the 100 yd in 9.3 seconds, twice tied the world record in 60 yd indoor events at 6.1 seconds, and set the world record in the 300 yd at 29.4 seconds. He co-held several world records in relays.

After turning forty, Baker participated in the Masters Track and Field program and held numerous world records in the 100 yd, 100 m, 220 y, 200 m, and several relays in the age groups categories of 40–44, 45–49, and 50–54 years of age. Baker is enshrined in the USATF Masters Hall of Fame [2] and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. [3] He is also in the Kansas State University Sports Hall of Fame and the Kansas State High School Activities Hall of Fame. In 1978, he was named a "Silver Athletics Top Ten" for personal achievement.

He began as a track meet "starter" in 1959 and has started NCAA National Championships and National Federation Championships. The year 2010 was his forty-fourth year of serving at the Texas Relays. He was selected "Outstanding Official" by the Texas Relays Committee in 2010 and inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2011. [4] He also has the track named after him in his home town of Elkhart, Kansas.

He retired in 1983 as a colonel from the United States Air Force after serving thirty years of active and reserve status. Additionally, in 1992, he retired from Mobil Research and Development after thirty-nine years of employment. His civic involvement included serving as president of a Rotary Club chapter, a member of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association board of directors, the United States Olympians board of directors, and volunteered on other boards and associations.

Thane Baker's daughter, Catherine Baker Nicholson JD, wrote a book about his first Olympics called Running in Borrowed Shoes: Thane Baker and the 1956 Summer Games, which Texas Christian University Press published in Summer 2024. Because he did not expect to make the 1952 Olympic team, Baker competed in the Men's 200 meters and won a silver medal wearing borrowed socks and borrowed shoes.

BYUtv produced a video about Thane Baker's experiences in 2024. [5]

Baker is the oldest living United States Olympic medalist in track, and ranks third in the world in the same category. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charley Paddock</span> American athlete (1900–1943)

Charles William Paddock was an American athlete and two-time Olympic champion.

Evelyn Ashford is an American retired track and field athlete, the 1984 Olympic champion in the 100-meter dash, and the world record-holder in the 60-yard dash. She ran under the 11-second barrier over 30 times and was the first woman to run under 11 seconds in an Olympic Games. Ashford has the distinction of owning the longest unbroken athletics record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Stanfield</span> American athletics competitor (1927–85)

Andrew William Stanfield was an American sprinter and Olympic gold and silver medallist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darvis Patton</span> American sprinter

Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events. He is a two-time US Champion in the 200-meter dash and won the silver medal in the event at the 2003 World Championships. He is a three-time Olympian and a four-time participant at the World Athletics Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvin Smith</span> American sprinter

Calvin Smith is a former sprint track and field athlete from the United States. He is a former world record holder in the 100-meter sprint with 9.93 seconds in 1983 and was twice world champion over 200 metres, in 1983 and 1987. He became Olympic champion in the 4x100-meter relay in 1984. He was born in Bolton, Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leroy Burrell</span> American track and field athlete

Leroy Russel Burrell is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Wariner</span> American sprinter

Jeremy Matthew Wariner is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals and six World Championships medals. He is the joint sixth fastest competitor in the history of the 400 m event with a personal best of 43.45 seconds, behind Wayde van Niekerk, Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds and the fifth fastest all-time mark when he set it in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Wykoff</span> American athlete (1909–1980)

Frank Clifford Wykoff was an American athlete, a triple gold medal winner in 4 × 100 m relay at the Olympic Games.

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

George Lawrence "Larry" James, also known as James Swift, 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.

Ollan Conn Cassell is an American sprinter in the 1950s and 1960s, winning a gold medal in the men's 4 × 400 m relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics. In his early 30s, Cassell later became the executive director of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). Right now he serves as an adjunct professor for Olympic Sports history at the University of Indianapolis and is the president of the Indiana Olympian Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Matson</span> American track and field athlete

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabrielle Thomas</span> American sprinter (born 1996)

Gabrielle Lisa Thomas is an American track and field athlete specializing in 100 and 200 meter sprint who is the 2024 200m Olympic champion. Born in Georgia and raised in Massachusetts, Thomas competed in college for Harvard University before beginning a professional track career in 2018. Thomas also has a master of public health degree in epidemiology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Dix</span> American sprinter

Walter Dix is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the seventh-fastest 200-meter runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters, with a best of 9.88 (9.80w) seconds. He was the only track athlete from USA to win 2 individual Olympic medals in Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Williams (sprinter)</span> American sprinter

Steve Williams is a retired track and field sprinter from the United States. He equalled the men's world records for the 100 m and 200 m with hand-timed runs of 9.9 seconds and 19.8 seconds, respectively, and was also a member of a team that set a world record in the 4 × 100 m relay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trayvon Bromell</span> American sprinter

Trayvon Jaquez Bromell is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in sprinting events. He won bronze medals in the 100 meters at the 2015 and 2022 World Championships. Bromell was the 2016 World indoor 60 meters champion, and competed for the United States at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He was the first junior to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters with a time of 9.97 seconds, the former junior world record.

Tiffany Townsend is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 and 200-meter dash. She has personal records of 11.13 and 22.26 seconds for the events, respectively.

Wenda "Wendy" Vereen is an American former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. She was the top ranked national runner in high school in 1983 and 1984. She set personal records of 11.17 seconds for the 100 m and 22.63 seconds for the 200 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Coleman</span> American sprinter (born 1996)

Christian Coleman is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. The 2019 world champion in the 100 meters, he also won gold as part of men's 4 × 100-meter relay. He holds personal bests of 9.76 seconds for the 100 m, which made him the 6th fastest all-time in the history of 100 metres event, and 19.85 for the 200 m. Coleman is the world record holder for the indoor 60 meters with 6.34 seconds. He was the Diamond League champion in 2018 and 2023 and the world number one ranked runner in the men's 100 m for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noah Lyles</span> American sprinter (born 1997)

Noah Lyles is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 meters, 100 meters and 200 meters events. His personal best of 19.31 seconds in the 200m is the American record, and makes him the third fastest of all-time. He is an Olympic champion and six-time World champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Kerley</span> American sprinter (born 1995)

Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American track and field sprinter. He was the Olympic silver medalist over 100 m at the 2020 Olympics and bronze medalist at the 2024 Olympics in the same event. Kerley has earned an additional six medals at the World Championships, most notably 100m gold at the 2022 edition. He has also medalled in the 400m, 4 x 100m relay, and 4 × 400 m relay and won eleven Diamond League races, including two Diamond League finals - the 400m in 2018 and the 100m in 2021.

References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Thane Baker". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
  2. "USATF - Masters Hall of Fame".
  3. "Kansas Sports Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  4. "txtfhalloffame". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16.
  5. "The Dream: Kansas State Big Story". YouTube . 9 February 2024.
  6. "ptchir". acsweb.ucsd.edu.