James Lightbody

James Lightbody
Full name	James Davies "Jim" Lightbody
nation	United States
birthday	March 15, 1882
place of birth	Pittsburgh
size	173 cm
Weight	61 kg
date of death	March 2, 1953
Place of death	Charleston
Career
discipline	Middle-distance run , obstacle run
society	Chicago Athletic Association
Medal table
Olympic games 3 × 1 × 0 × Olympus. Interludes 1 × 1 × 0 ×
Olympic games gold St. Louis 1904 800 m gold St. Louis 1904 1500 m gold St. Louis 1904 2590 m obstacle  Olympic Intermediate Games gold Athens 1906 1500 m silver Athens 1906 800 m

James Lightbody ( James Davies "Jim" Lightbody ; born March 15, 1882 in Pittsburgh , † March 2, 1953 in Charleston , South Carolina ) was an American athlete and three-time Olympic champion in three Olympic participations.

Career

In 1900, Lightbody finished second over the mile at the Indiana State High School Championships . He enrolled in DePaul University . During competitions he was noticed by coach Amos Alonzo Stagg , who promised him that if he came to the University of Chicago he would make an Olympic champion . Lightbody came and at the Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904 , Lightbody won the gold medal in the 800-meter run ahead of his compatriots Howard Valentine and Emil Breitkreutz , and the gold medal in the 1,500-meter run with a world record ahead of the two Americans Frank Verner and Lacey Hearn , as well as the gold medal in the obstacle course over 2590 m in front of the Briton John Daly and the American Arthur Newton (the run was ended one lap too early due to an organizational error). He also won the silver medal with the American 4-by-1-mile relay.

In 1905 he won the AAU championships over 800 and 1500 meters. At the Olympic Intermediate Games in Athens in 1906 , he won the silver medal over 800 meters, behind the American Paul Pilgrim and ahead of the British Wyndham Halswelle . Over 1500 meters he was able to defend his title from 1904 and won gold in front of the British John McGough and the Swede Kristian Hellström .

In his third participation in the Olympics, the Olympic Games in London in 1908 , he again competed over 800 meters, but only came fourth due to an injury and was eliminated. In the runs over 1500 meters and 3200 meters obstacle he fared no better. Here, too, he did not get beyond the lead. Influenced by Stagg, he trained with intense tempo runs and targeted dumbbell training.

From the games in London, Lightbody went straight to Berlin, where he studied until 1911 and worked as a journalist for the Associated Press . There he started for the Berliner SC and took part in German championships . In 1910 and 1911 he was German champion over 800 and 1500 meters. He was the first foreigner who was allowed to wear the golden eagle (instead of the yellow ) on the club jersey.

Web links

• James Lightbody in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Arnd Krüger : Many roads lead to Olympia. The changes in training systems for medium and long distance runners (1850–1997) . In: N. Gissel (Hrsg.): Sporting performance in change . Czwalina, Hamburg 1998, pp. 41-56.
2. ↑ http://www.iatccc.org/halloffame14.htm#lightbody on . December 12, 2016