Barney Ewell

Harold Norwood "Barney" Ewell (born February 25, 1918 in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania , † April 4, 1996 in Lancaster , Pennsylvania) was an American track and field athlete and Olympic champion .

In the mid-1930s, as a student at Pennsylvania State University , until the early 1940s, Ewell was the strongest runner and outstanding long jumper in the United States. He won twelve gold medals over 100 and 200 meters at national championships and eleven gold medals at national AAU championships between 1939 and 1948. In the long jump he reached a distance of 7.42 m in 1942. From 1941 to 1945 he served in the military and on his return he first finished his studies. In 1948 he surprised the public with the fact that he wanted to take part in the upcoming Olympic Games. At the national AAU championships, which were also the qualifying games for the Olympic team, he set the world record of 10.2 s over 100 meters .

At the XIV Olympic Games in London in 1948 , he won the silver medal in the 100-meter run behind the American Harrison Dillard (gold) and in front of the Panamanian Lloyd LaBeach (bronze) and the silver medal in the 200-meter run , behind the American Mel Patton (gold) and ahead of the Panamanian Lloyd LaBeach (bronze). In the 4 x 100 meter relay he won the team gold medal together with his teammates Lorenzo Wright , Harrison Dillard and Mel Patton, ahead of the teams from Great Britain (silver) and from Italy (bronze).

Web links

• Barney Ewell in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )