Eddie Tolan

Eddie Tolan
Eddie Tolan, ca.1930
Full name	Thomas Edward Tolan
nation	United States
birthday	September 29, 1908
place of birth	Denver
size	170 cm
Weight	65 kg
date of death	January 31, 1967
Place of death	Detroit
Career
discipline	sprint
Best performance	10.4 s ( 100 m ) 20.9 s ( 200 m )
Medal table
Olympic games 2 × 0 × 0 ×
Olympic games gold Los Angeles 1932 100 m gold Los Angeles 1932 200 m

Eddie Tolan (actually: Thomas Edward Tolan ; born September 29, 1908 in Denver , Colorado , † January 31, 1967 in Detroit , Michigan ) was an American sprinter . He became the first black Olympic champion in the 100-meter run in 1932 and was nicknamed The Midnight Express.

biography

Tolan was an excellent American football player in his youth . When he played on the team at Cass Tech High School in Detroit , he won the Michigan State Championship and performed so well that he was offered a place at seven different universities. He opted for the University of Michigan , where, however, due to his small height (1.70 m), doubts about his suitability for this sport were voiced. So he switched to athletics . His career lasted four years.

As a student at the University of Michigan, Tolan set a world record over 100 yards on May 25, 1929 in Evanston with 9.5 seconds. In the same year, he set the world record of 10.4 seconds in the 100-meter run several times at sports festivals in Europe .

In 1932, Tolan won the US sprint track title. Although he had to admit defeat to his teammate Ralph Metcalfe in the Olympic qualifying competitions, the so-called Trials, Tolan qualified for the 100-meter and the 200-meter run of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles . There Tolan managed to turn the tables and he won both sprint courses with Olympic records .

Neither Tolan nor Metcalfe were nominated for the 4 x 100 meter relay . Nevertheless, the US relay won gold in a world record time. After the games, Tolan largely withdrew from the sport and only appeared occasionally in professional races.

After his active career, Tolan worked as a vaudeville actor for a short time . He then worked with the Wayne County Registry , as a trainer at Murray Wright High School, and finally as a school teacher.

Tolan died of a heart attack on January 31, 1967, at the age of 58 .

Services

• In 1929 it set over 100 yards with 9.5 s. set a world record. In the same year he succeeded with 10.4 s. the setting of the world record over 100 m. He won the US championship over 100 and 200 yards. in 10.0 s or 21.9 s.
• In 1930 he won the US championship over 100 yards. in 9.7 s.
• In 1931 he won over 200 yards. the US Championship in 21.0 s and the NCAA Championship in 21.5 s.
• In 1932 he lost both routes to Ralph Metcalfe in the Olympic eliminations , but in Los Angeles the order was reversed. After running a world record with 10.53 s in the run-up, he ran a dead end with Metcalfe in the new world record time of 10.38 s, but was declared the winner ahead of Metcalfe due to photos of the finish line. The gaps were clearer over 200 m: Tolan won in 21.12 s ahead of George Simpson in 21.4 s and Ralph Metcalfe in 21.5 s.

Web links

• Eddie Tolan in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )