View source for Harold Osborn

{{short description|American athletics competitor}}
{{other uses}}
{{use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = 
| image = Harold Osborn 1924.jpg
| caption = Osborn at the 1924 Olympics
| full_name = Harold Marion Osborn
| birth_date = April 13, 1899 
| birth_place = [[Butler, Illinois]], USA
| death_date = April 5, 1975 (aged 75)
| death_place = [[Champaign, Illinois]], USA
| alma_mater = [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]]
| height = {{convert|1.81|m|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}}
| weight = {{convert|73|kg|lb|abbr=on|order=flip}}
| sport = Athletics
| event = [[High jump]], [[triple jump]], [[decathlon]]
| club = Illinois Athletic Club, Chicago
| pb = HJ – 2.038 m (1924)<br>TJ – 14.27 m (1921)<br>Decathlon – 6476 (1924)<ref name=r1/><ref name=r4/> 
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold| 1924 Paris | [[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump|High jump]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Paris]] | [[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon|Decathlon]]}}
}}

'''Harold Marion Osborn''' [[Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine|D.O.]] (April 13, 1899 – April 5, 1975) was an American [[Track and field|track athlete]]. He won a gold medal in [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] [[decathlon]] and [[high jump]] in 1924 and was the first athlete to win a gold medal in both the [[decathlon]] and an individual event.<ref name=r1/>

== Biography ==
After high school, Osborn attended the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]] from 1919 through 1922,<ref name="usatf1"/> majoring in [[agriculture]], where he was a founding member of the Eta chapter of [[Kappa Delta Rho]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Olympic Medalists |url=https://www.kdrarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/KDR_QUILL_SCROLL_VOL_89_NO_4_NOV_1983.pdf |magazine=Quill & Scroll |page=3 |publisher=National Fraternity of [[Kappa Delta Rho]] |date=November 1983 |access-date=2024-07-25}}</ref>  Both of Osborns parents were of entirely English ancestry. All of Osborn's ancestors came to North America from England and all of them emigrated to the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] before the year 1700.<ref name="ReferenceA">Samuel Combest and His Descendants by Harriet Jane Barnes Smith - University of Wisconsin: Madison - 1990</ref> Osborn was descended from [[Richard Sears (pilgrim)|Richard Sears]], [[John Underhill (captain)|John Underhill]], [[Myles Standish]], [[George Soule (Mayflower passenger)|George Soule]] and [[John Woodbridge]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Osborn won gold medals and set Olympic records in both the [[high jump]] and the [[decathlon]] at the 1924 Olympics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78864 |title=Harold Osborn |work=Olympedia |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref> His 6'6" high jump remained the Olympic record for 12 years, while his decathlon score of 7,710.775 points also set a new world record,<ref name=r1/> and resulted in worldwide press coverage calling him the "world's greatest athlete."

On May 27, 1924, Osborn's 6' 8-¼" (=2m 03.835 cm) high jump set a world record at an AAU meet held at the University of Illinois campus in Urbana.<ref name="usatf1"/> The following year Osborn won the British [[AAA Championships]] title in the high jump event at the [[1925 AAA Championships]]. At the same Championships he finished second behind [[Elemér Somfay]] in the triple jump event.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000325/19250718/019/0007 |title=AAA Championships |work=Gloucester Citizen |date=18 July 1925 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=3 January 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003212/19250720/219/0010 |title=New Holders |work=Daily News (London) |date=20 July 1925 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=3 January 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=3 January 2025 }}</ref>

Osborn competed in the Olympics again in 1928. In the high jump, four competitors tied for second place. The initial tying jumps for second place were 6' 3- ½", just an inch behind gold medalist, [[Bob King (athlete)|Bob King]], who jumped 6' 4½".<ref name=r1/>

== Titles and records ==
Osborn won 17 national titles and set six world records during his career. He held world indoor records in the standing hop, step, and jump; the 60-yard high hurdles; and the running high jump. His holds the world record in the standing high jump of 5' 5¾" which he achieved at the age of 37.<ref name=r1/> Osborn was enshrined as a charter member of the [[National Track and Field Hall of Fame]] in 1974.<ref name="usatf1"/> He modified the Western roll technique by developing an efficient side‑to‑the‑bar clearance, which resulted in more height and consistency.<ref name="usatf1">{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=125 |title=Hall of Fame |publisher=USATF |date=1924-05-27 |access-date=2012-10-02 |archive-date=May 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523205524/http://legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=125 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=r1>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/os/harold-osborn-1.html |title=Harold Osborn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417172800/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/os/harold-osborn-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
<ref name=r4>{{cite web |url=http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=5005&Gender=M |title=Harold Osborn |website=trackfield.brinkster.net}}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
* USA Track and Field website http://www.usatf.org/
* The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, 1996 Edition, Sports Illustrated.
* Olympic Trials Website http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/OlympicTrialsStats2004.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227173941/http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/OlympicTrialsStats2004.pdf |date=February 27, 2023 }}
* The Olympics Fact Book http://www.Rediff.com/
* Article from July 18, 1996 – ''The Hillsboro Journal,'' Hillsboro, Illinois
* Obituary – ''Chicago Tribune,'' Thursday, April 10, 1975
* Reminiscences of Margaret Bordner Osborn to Marianna Trekell and family members
* Letters written by Harold Osborn to Margaret Bordner in 1925 (copies in possession of author; original letters in possession of Osborn's daughters).
* Trekell, Marianna, and White, Cyril M., unpublished manuscript titled "Harold M. Osborn at the Games of the VIII Olympiad Paris, 1925," written in the 1980s. Trekell was a faculty member in the Dept. of Physical Education at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. White was a sociologist at University College, Dublin, Ireland, with an academic interest in the Sociology of Sport.
* Article from the ''Illinois Alumni News,'' September 1974, titled "Dublin Remembers Harold Osborn '22".
* Hansen, Willard, ''Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette,'' Urbana, Illinois, April 25, 1975.
* Sports News, ''Christian Science Monitor,'' Boston, May 9, 1944, "Osborn Still Clears 6 Feet Long After Leaving College."
* Murray, Feg, "Crossing the Bar," newspaper clipping dated February 16, 1926, University of Illinois Archives—Harold M. Osborn file. Released through [[Metropolitan Newspaper Service]].
* Letter written by Osborn to Volker Kluge, January 31, 1969, in possession of Osborn's niece, Emily Osborn.

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{USATF Hall of Fame|id=125}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|EST}} [[Aleksander Klumberg]]|title=[[Decathlon#Records|Men's Decathlon World Record Holder]]|years=July 12, 1924 – July 18, 1926|after={{flagicon|FIN}} [[Paavo Yrjölä]]}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|USA}} [[Edward Beeson]]|title=[[Men's high jump world record progression|Men's High Jump World Record Holder]]|years=May 27, 1924 – May 13, 1933|after={{flagicon|USA}} [[Walter Marty]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions High Jump Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Decathlon}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's high jump}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's long jump}}
{{Footer US NC high jump Men}}
{{Footer US NC Decathlon Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1924 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1928 Summer Olympics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, Harold}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1975 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Montgomery County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Illinois]]
[[Category:American men decathletes]]
[[Category:American men high jumpers]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics]]
[[Category:American osteopathic physicians]]
[[Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:People from Lewistown, Illinois]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Fulton County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Olympic decathletes]]
[[Category:Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine alumni]]
[[Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]