View source for Henry Carr

{{Short description|American track and field athlete (1941–2015)}}
{{For|other people named Henry Carr|Henry Carr (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = 
| image = Paul Drayton, Henry Carr, Edwin Roberts 1964.jpg
| image_size = 260px
| caption = Carr (center) at the [[1964 Summer Olympics]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|11|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Montgomery, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|05|29|1941|11|27}}
| death_place = [[Griffin, Georgia]], U.S.
| height = {{convert|1.91|m|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}}
| weight = {{convert|84|kg|lb|abbr=on|order=flip}}
| sport = Sprint running
| club = Phoenix Olympic Club
| pb = 100 yd – 9.3 (1963)<br> 100 m – 10.2 (1964)<br> 200 m – 20.1 (1964)<br> 400 – 45.4 (1963)<ref name=sr/>
| alma_mater = 
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalOlympics}}
{{MedalGold| [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Tokyo]] | [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|200 m]]}}
{{MedalGold|1964 Tokyo| [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay|4 × 400 m relay]]}}
|module=
{{Infobox NFL biography
| embed         = yes
| image         =
| number        = 28
| position      = [[Safety (American football position)|Safety]]
| height_ft     = 6
| height_in     = 3
| weight_lbs    = 190
| high_school   = 
| college       = [[Arizona State University|Arizona State]]
| draftyear     = 1965
| draftround    = 4
| draftpick     = 43
| afldraftyear  = 1965
| afldraftround = 3
| afldraftpick  = 21
| pastteams     = * [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1965}}–{{NFL Year|1967}})
| pfr           = CarrHe20
}}}}

'''Henry Carr''' (November 27, 1941 – May 29, 2015) was an [[Americans|American]] [[track and field]] athlete who won two gold medals at the [[1964 Summer Olympics]] in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]].<ref name=sr>[https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ca/henry-carr-1.html Henry Carr] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522214757/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ca/henry-carr-1.html |date=May 22, 2014 }}. Sports Reference</ref>

==Early life==
Born in [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]], Alabama, in 1941,<ref>Richard Goldstein (June 7, 2015) [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/sports/football/henry-carr-gold-medalist-and-then-a-giant-dies-at-73.html?ref=obituaries Henry Carr, Olympic Sprinter and a Football Giant, Dies at 73]. New York Times.</ref> Carr moved with his family to [[Detroit]], Michigan when he was young.<ref name="nyt_obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/sports/football/henry-carr-gold-medalist-and-then-a-giant-dies-at-73.html?_r=0|title=Henry Carr, Gold Medalist and Then a Giant, Dies at 73|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 7, 2015|author=Richard Goldstein}}</ref>

Prior to bringing his athletic talents to [[Arizona State University]] (ASU), Carr was a state champion sprinter for [[Northwestern High School (Michigan)|Northwestern High School]] in Detroit having posted a 100-yard time of 9.3 seconds. While competing for the ASU [[Arizona State Sun Devils|Sun Devils]], he won three national titles; along the way setting [[world record]]s at 220 [[yard]]s and as a member of the Sun Devil 4 × 440 yard [[relay race|relay]] team.

Henry Carr won the 1963 [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] title at 200 meters in 20.5; the same year he ran 20.69 to tie [[Paul Drayton (athlete)|Paul Drayton]] for the USA title. Twice that season Carr ran world records; a non-ratified 20.4 for 220 yards and, three days later in a college triangular meet, a 20.3 for 220 yards. Henry Carr ran even faster in 1964; setting a world record of 20.2 for 220 yards. He also defeated Drayton into second place to win the national title.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/archivemenu/13-lists/979-usa-nationals-history|title=A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2014|publisher=[[Track and Field News]]|access-date=March 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316033746/http://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/archivemenu/13-lists/979-usa-nationals-history|archive-date=March 16, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Olympics==
It was at the 1964 Olympics where Carr would achieve his greatest fame; Carr won the 200 meters (in an Olympic Record time) and anchored the winning 4 × 400 meter relay team to a world record 3:00.7 (with [[Ollan Cassell]], [[Mike Larrabee]] and [[Ulis Williams]]).

Carr had a fright in his qualification for the Olympics. He had won the semi-final trials held in New York in July and only had to prove his fitness at the final trials in September in Los Angeles. However, he was well beaten into fourth place in the final there and with only 3 to qualify he could have been eliminated. His earlier win was enough though to convince the selectors that he should go to the Olympics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/archivemenu/26-news/1145-ot-history-2012|title=Olympic Trials History|author=Richard Hymans|publisher=[[Track and Field News]]|access-date=March 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323065324/http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/archivemenu/26-news/1145-ot-history-2012|archive-date=March 23, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/07/24/flexible-rules-helped-carr-rule-in-64/|title=Flexible Rules Helped Carr Rule In '64|date=July 24, 1992|author=Richard Rothschild|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref><ref>E L Quercetani & G Pallicca, A World History of Sprint Racing 1850-2005, p 90-91.</ref>

==Professional football career==
Following the Olympics, Carr played [[American football]] in the [[National Football League]]. He was [[NFL Draft|drafted]] in the fourth round of the [[1965 NFL draft]] by the [[New York Giants]] and played three seasons as a safety and cornerback with the Giants. In his last year with them he was hampered by a knee injury.<ref name="nyt_obit"/>

In 1969, he had a try-out with the [[Detroit Lions]] but quit their training camp.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19690829&id=q5hRAAAAIBAJ&pg=7056,7493435&hl=en|title=Carr Quits and Lions cut him|publisher=[[The Milwaukee Sentinel]]|date=August 29, 1969}}{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

==Personal life==
After he left the NFL he found difficulty in adjusting and finding work. He found new purpose in 1973 when he became a [[Jehovah's Witnesses|Jehovah's Witness]].<ref name=sr/><ref name="nyt_obit"/> In the mid-1970s he was described as living a simple life with his family outside [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19760529&id=DG5NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6171,7513228&hl=en|title=Saturday Sportsline|publisher=[[Lakeland Ledger]]|date=May 29, 1976|author=Mickey Herskowitz and Steve Perkins}}</ref> In later life, Carr became a Jehovah's Witness elder, and was reported to have done contracting work and owned a restaurant.<ref name="nyt_obit"/> He died of cancer on May 29, 2015, in Griffin, Georgia.<ref>Jeff Metcalfe (June 2, 2015) [http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/asu/2015/06/02/asu-track-henry-carr/28385971/ ASU, Olympic track champion Henry Carr dies at 73]. azcentral.com</ref>

==Accolades and awards==
Carr was a 1975 Charter inductee in the Arizona State Sun Devils Athletics Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesundevils.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208253603|title=Men's and Women's Track and Field|publisher=[[Arizona State University]] Official Athletics Site}}</ref> In 1997, he was inducted into the [[USA Track and Field]] Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=29|title=Henry Carr|publisher=[[USA Track and Field]]|access-date=March 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027131336/http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=29|archive-date=October 27, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== World records ==
Carr set the following world records during his track career:<ref>Progression of IAAF World Records 2011 Edition, Editor Imre Matrahazi, IAAF Athletics, p. 462.</ref>

* 220 y of 20.3 s at [[Tempe, Arizona|Tempe]], Arizona on March 23, 1963, in a tri Meet ASU-Utah-USC;
* 4 × 440 y of 3:04.5 at [[Walnut, California|Walnut]], California on April 27, 1963, at the [[Mt. SAC Relays]] for the ASU;
* 220 y of 20.2 s at [[Tempe, Arizona|Tempe]], Arizona on April 4, 1964, in a dual meet ASU-SC Striders;
* 4 × 400 m of 3:00.7 at [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]] on October 21, 1964, in the Olympic final.

Note: he also ran a 20.4 s for 220 y on March 19, 1963, that was never ratified as a world record.

==World rankings==
Carr was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 100, 200 and 400 m sprint events in the period 1962–64, according to the votes of the experts of ''[[Track and Field News]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/01-m100rank.pdf|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6ZQLmFUkG?url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/01-m100rank.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 20, 2015|title=World Rankings Index--Men's 100 meters|publisher=[[Track and Field News]]|access-date=March 17, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/01-m100rankus.pdf |title=U.S. Rankings Index--Men's 100 meters |publisher=[[Track and Field News]] }}{{dead link|date=March 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200rank.pdf|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6ZQLm1YuH?url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200rank.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 20, 2015|title=World Rankings Index--Men's 200 meters|publisher=[[Track and Field News]]|access-date=March 17, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200rankus.pdf|title=U.S. Rankings Index--Men's 200 meters|publisher=[[Track and Field News]]}}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/03-m400rank.pdf|title=World Rankings Index--Men's 400 meters|publisher=[[Track and Field News]]}}{{Dead link|date=December 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/03-m400rankus.pdf|title=U.S. Rankings Index--Men's 400 meters|publisher=[[Track and Field News]]}}{{Dead link|date=December 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
{| class=wikitable
|+100 meters
|-
!Year
!World rank
!US rank
|-
|1962
|align="center" | 6th
|align="center" | 4th
|-
|1963
|align="center" | 3rd
|align="center" | 2nd
|-
|1964
|align="center" | 6th
|align="center" | 3rd
|}
{{col-3}}
{| class=wikitable
|+ 200 meters
|-
!Year
!World rank
!US rank
|-
|1962
|align="center" | -
|align="center" | -
|-
|1963
|align="center" | 1st
|align="center" | 1st
|-
|1964
|align="center" | 1st
|align="center" | 1st
|-
|}
{{col-3}}
{| class=wikitable
|+ 400 meters
|-
!Year
!World rank
!US rank
|-
|1962
|align="center" | -
|align="center" | -
|-
|1963
|align="center" | 5th
|align="center" | 4th
|-
|1964
|align="center" | -
|align="center" | 5th
|}
{{col-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.michtrack.org/HOF-hcarr.html Henry Carr: Detroit Northwestern High School 1961, Michtrack] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224075241/http://www.michtrack.org/HOF-hcarr.html |date=February 24, 2020 }}
*[http://tucson.com/sports/whether-at-asu-the-olympics-or-nfl-carr-could-motor/article_2e8668a6-0ee3-5011-bf04-af53e8e50acb.html Whether at ASU, the Olympics or NFL, Carr could motor. Arizona Daily Star, July 16 2011.]
*{{USATF Hall of Fame|id=29}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 200 m Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 4x400 m Men|1964}}
{{Footer US NC 200m Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1964 Summer Olympics}}
{{Chiefs1965DraftPicks}}
{{Giants1965DraftPicks}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Henry}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American track and field athletes]]
[[Category:American football safeties]]
[[Category:American men sprinters]]
[[Category:Arizona State Sun Devils men's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:New York Giants players]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Detroit]]
[[Category:Northwestern High School (Michigan) alumni]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Detroit]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:American Jehovah's Witnesses]]