| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing the  United States | ||
| Pan American Games | ||
 | 1975 Mexico City | 4 x 100 m relay |
| IAAF World Cup | ||
| 1977 Düsseldorf | 200 m |
| Summer Universiade | ||
| 1977 Sofia | 200 m |
Clancy Edwards (born August 9, 1955) is an American retired track and field sprinter. He was considered one of the best sprinters in the world between 1974 and 1978. He won the 200 metres at the 1977 IAAF World Cup, the most important meet of that year, defeating future World Record holder Pietro Mennea.
While in high school, he ran for Santa Ana High School. [1] His 21.32 (converted from a hand time of 21.2) for 220 yards, winning the 1973 CIF California State Meet, was the best time in Orange County, California for 12 years. [2] He was also 2nd in the 100-yard dash. [3]
Edwards began his collegiate career at Cal Poly in 1974, running for their track team, the Cal Poly Mustangs (where he won titles under the tutelage of coach Steve Simmons).
In August 1975, he won the CCAA Athlete of the Year Award for all sports. [4] During an era when Division II-attending competitors could also advance up to the Division I NCAA Championships, Edwards came in third place at the 1975 Division I finals at BYU in the 220 yards, clocking an All-American time of 20.61 seconds. [5] He missed out on the 1976 Summer Olympics because of injury. [6]
In 1977, he transferred as a junior to the University of Southern California. While at USC he was one of the best sprinters in the world, helping them to the Pac-8 collegiate championship. [7]
He was ranked (see below) in the American top ten at 200 metres five times between 1974 and 1979 including #1 in 1977 and 1978. Worldwide those rankings were not much different, ranking #1 in 1978 and #3 in 1977 behind Mennea and Olympic Champion Don Quarrie. And he was #2 worldwide in 1978 at 100 metres.
Edwards' fastest time over 100 metres was 10.07 seconds, set at Eugene in June 1978. In that year, Edwards achieved the remarkable 'double-double' of winning the 100 and 200 m events at both the NCAA (United States collegiate) and AAU (United States National) Championships. He was the first to do this since Hal Davis in 1943. [8] [9] That same year he also recorded the world's best yearly performance in the men's 200 metres at the dual meet against crosstown rival UCLA in Westwood, Los Angeles, clocking 20.03 on April 29, 1978. In both 1977 and 1978 he was awarded the Pac-10 Track Athlete of the Year.
Also in 1978, Edwards ran the anchor leg of a University of Southern California team (with Joel Andrews, James Sanford and William Mullins) that broke the world record in 4 × 200 m relay event with a time of 1.20.26 at Tempe, Arizona on 27 May. [10] They broke the record even though they came second in the race. The team that won from the Tobias Striders track team was multi-national and so was not eligible to hold the record; that team of Guy Abrahams, Michael Simmons, Don Quarrie and James Gilkes recorded a time of 1.20.23.
Injury ruined his 1979 season. [11] The following year, the United States boycott of the 1980 Olympics meant he lacked the motivation to re-find his best form and to carry on with his track career post-1980 onto the next Olympics. [12]
Edwards was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 100 yard/100 metre and 200 yard/200 metre sprint events in the period 1974-79, according to the votes of the experts of Track and Field News . [13] [14] [15] [16]
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The first record in the 100 metres for men (athletics) was recognised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912.
Henry Carr was an American track and field athlete who won two gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Pietro Paolo Mennea, nicknamed la Freccia del Sud, was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a world record at 19.72 seconds in September 1979. This record stood for almost 17 years – the longest duration in the event history – and is still the European record. He is the only male sprinter who has qualified at four consecutive 200 metres Olympic finals: from 1972 to 1984.
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Emmit King was an American track and field sprinter, who twice was a member of the American Relay Team for the Summer Olympics but he did not compete. He is best known for winning the bronze medal at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in the men's 100 metres. At the same championships, he was part of the team that won gold in the 4x100 m relay for the United States, and in doing so set a new world record of 37.86 s. He set his personal best (10.04) in the 100 metres on June 17, 1988, at the 1988 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Tampa, Florida.
James Gilkes is a former sprinter from Guyana who specialised in the 200 metres.
The following table shows the world record progression in the men's 200 metres, as ratified by the IAAF. The current record of 19.19 seconds was set by Usain Bolt at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.
William Collins is an American sprinter, originally running for Mount Vernon High School in Westchester County, New York, where he won four state titles and later at Texas Christian University where he achieved "All-American" status.
Anthony Raye Ketchum is an American former sprinter.
William Snoddy is a former sprinter from the United States. He achieved most success in the 200-meter dash where he was NCAA champion in 1977.
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Noah Lyles is an American professional track and field sprinter competing in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic 200 m bronze medalist and a six-time World champion, having won the 200 m and 4 × 100 m at the 2019 World Championships, the 200 m at the 2022 World Championships, and the 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 m events at the 2023 World Championships, becoming the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to complete the sprint treble at a World Championships. At the 2022 Championships, Lyles also earned a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. He holds personal bests of 9.83 seconds for the 100 m and 19.31 seconds for the 200 m, the latter being an American record making him the third fastest on the respective world all-time list.
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