19 NOV 2015 General News Washington DC, USA
Mal Whitfield on the anchor leg of the USA team that took the 1948 Olympic Games 4x400m gold medal (Getty Images) © Copyright
The IAAF is very saddened to learn of the death of three-time Olympic champion Mal Whitfield.
He died in Washington, USA, on Wednesday (19) at the age of 91.
At the London 1948 Olympic Games, Whitfield was then a 24-year-old US Air Force sergeant who had served in World War II and became the first US serviceman to win an Olympic gold medal while on active duty.
Whitfield won the 800m in an Olympic record of 1:49.2, anchored the USA 4x400m team to victory and also took a bronze medal in the 400m.
Four years later, at the Helsinki 1952 Olympic Games, Whitfield defended his 800m title and equalled his Olympic record from London, and also won a silver medal in the 4x400m.
Whitfield famously trained for the 1952 Games while serving during the Korean War, where he flew 27 missions. He won 66 of his 69 800m/880 yards races from June of 1948 to the end of 1954.
He set three individual official IAAF world records: two at 880 yards in 1950 and 1953, one at 1000m in 1952; and he was also a part of the USA teams that set official world records at the imperial distances of 4x440 yards and 4x880 yards within the space of six days in London in August 1952.
Whitfield’s other athletics achievements included winning the 400m, 800m and 4x400m gold medals at the 1951 Pan American Games.
Upon his retirement from competitive athletics at the end of 1956, Whitfield toured the world as a Sports Goodwill Ambassador for the US Department of State, coaching extensively across Africa, and later became the head of the Physical Education and Sports Department at the University of Nigeria.
He was elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988.
The IAAF wishes to pass on its sincere condolences to his family and friends.
United States Olympic Committee and IAAF
====================================
Keith Conning: Mal Whitfield was the father of Ed Wright (California).
Two-time Olympic 800m champion Mal Whitfield dies at the age of 91
Mal Whitfield on the anchor leg of the USA team that took the 1948 Olympic Games 4x400m gold medal (Getty Images) © Copyright He died in Washington, USA, on Wednesday (19) at the age of 91.
At the London 1948 Olympic Games, Whitfield was then a 24-year-old US Air Force sergeant who had served in World War II and became the first US serviceman to win an Olympic gold medal while on active duty.
Whitfield won the 800m in an Olympic record of 1:49.2, anchored the USA 4x400m team to victory and also took a bronze medal in the 400m.
Four years later, at the Helsinki 1952 Olympic Games, Whitfield defended his 800m title and equalled his Olympic record from London, and also won a silver medal in the 4x400m.
Whitfield famously trained for the 1952 Games while serving during the Korean War, where he flew 27 missions. He won 66 of his 69 800m/880 yards races from June of 1948 to the end of 1954.
He set three individual official IAAF world records: two at 880 yards in 1950 and 1953, one at 1000m in 1952; and he was also a part of the USA teams that set official world records at the imperial distances of 4x440 yards and 4x880 yards within the space of six days in London in August 1952.
Whitfield’s other athletics achievements included winning the 400m, 800m and 4x400m gold medals at the 1951 Pan American Games.
Upon his retirement from competitive athletics at the end of 1956, Whitfield toured the world as a Sports Goodwill Ambassador for the US Department of State, coaching extensively across Africa, and later became the head of the Physical Education and Sports Department at the University of Nigeria.
He was elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988.
The IAAF wishes to pass on its sincere condolences to his family and friends.
United States Olympic Committee and IAAF
====================================
Keith Conning: Mal Whitfield was the father of Ed Wright (California).
| Ed Wright |
 |
| ||||||||||||||||
Senior (2008): Took 14th (6-10.75, 2.10m) in the high jump at the NCAA Championships...advanced to the NCAA Championships when he took fourth and posted a mark of 6-11 (2.11m) at the NCAA West Regional...won his second straight Pac-10 high jump title, as he once again tied his personal best with a jump of 7-3.25 (2.22m)... ranked No. 5 in the nation...placed first with a regional qualifying mark of 7-2.50 (2.20m) at the Stanford Invitational...won at the Big Meet, for the third consecutive year, with a mark of 7-0.50 (2.15m)...in his first competition of 2008 at the Husky Classic, he provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, as he tied his PR of 7-3.25 (2.22m)...took seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a mark of 7-0.25 (2.14m).
Junior (2007): Garnered indoor and outdoor All-America honors when he took sixth in the men's high jump at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships...set a new lifetime-best mark with a 7-3.25 to win the high jump at the NCAA West Regional...the 7-3.25 score tied Wright for seventh on Cal's all-time list...won the Pac-10 title in the high jump with a 7-3 (2.21 meters), which tied his lifetime-best mark...he also jumped that height to win the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational... competed at the USA championships, taking 10th overall 7-01.75 (2.18 meters)...tied for sixth at last year's NCAA West Regional (6-9)...posted a Cal school-record and NCAA provisional-qualifying 7-2.5 to win at the MPSF Indoor Championships.
Sophomore (2006): Indoors, jumped a season-best 2.13 meters (6-11) at the Tyson Invitational...outdoors, won the high jump (1.98m, 6-06) at the Big Meet and at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational (2.05m, 6-08).
Freshman (2005): Recorded Cal's second-best score of 6-11.75 (2.13m) in the high jump at the Pac-10 Championships.
High School: Wright completed a successful high school career at St. Mary's of Berkeley before graduating in 2004...honors included the California state high jump title, winning at the prestigious Golden West Invitational, finishing second at the USATF Junior Nationals and being named Verizon USATF Jr. All-American in 2004...played two years of basketball.
Personal: Born March 3, 1986, in Nairobi, Kenya... parents are Mal Whitfield and Harriet Wright...Mal ran track for Ohio State and competed in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, winning three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze...social welfare major.
Mal Whitfield on the anchor leg of the USA team that took the 1948 Olympic Games 4x400m gold medal (Getty Images) © Copyright
No comments:
Post a Comment