George Rhoden
Template:Short description Template:Use Jamaican English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox sportsperson
George Vincent Rhoden (13 December 1926 – 24 August 2024) was a Jamaican athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1952.
Rhoden was born in Kingston on 13 December 1926.<ref>Biography and Statistics at Sports Reference Template:Webarchive</ref> He later moved to San Francisco, California, and was one of the successful long sprinters from Jamaica in the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley. He competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, but did not win a medal, being eliminated in the heats of the 100 m and the semi-final of the 400 m. He was also a member of the heavily favoured Jamaican 4 × 400 m relay team, but when Wint pulled a muscle in the final, their chances at a medal were gone. On 22 August 1950 at Eskilstuna, Sweden, Rhoden set a new world record in 400 m of 45.8 s. He also won the AAU championships in 400 m from 1949 to 1951 and as a Morgan State University student, won the NCAA championships in Template:Convert in 1951 and in Template:Convert from 1950 to 1952. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Rhoden was more successful. As a world record holder he was one of the pre-race favourites in the 400 m which he won in a close battle with his compatriot McKenley, who had also been second in the 1948 Olympic 400 m.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As the anchor runner of the Jamaican relay team, Rhoden added a second Olympic gold, edging the United States where he lived by a tenth of a second, and setting a new world record (3:03.9).<ref>Template:Cite web Jamaica Gleaner</ref> He died on 24 August 2024, at the age of 97.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Competition record
| Representing Template:Flagicon Jamaica | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Olympics | London, United Kingdom | 4th, Heat 1, SF | 400 m | 47.7 |
References
External links
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- 1926 births
- 2024 deaths
- Athletes from Kingston, Jamaica
- Morgan State Bears men's track and field athletes
- Jamaican men sprinters
- World record setters in the sport of athletics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes for Jamaica
- Olympic gold medalists for Jamaica
- Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists in athletics
- Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica
- Competitors at the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games
- Competitors at the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games
- Competitors at the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games
- Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics
- NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
- 20th-century Jamaican sportsmen