Mike Larrabee

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Mike Larrabee 2002

Mike Larrabee (actually Michael Denny Larrabee ; born December 2, 1933 in San Buenaventura , California , † April 22, 2003 in Santa Maria , Calif.) Was an American sprinter and Olympic champion in the 400-meter run .

Larrabee was a talented runner in the mid-1950s. His talent earned him a 1952 scholarship to the University of Southern California , where he studied geology . In the first few years, several injuries prevented a sporting career. It was not until he changed his training program at the age of 30 that he made 1964 his best year. First he won the AAU championships over 400 meters, then he set the existing world record over 44.9 seconds.

At the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 , he was only in 5th place in the 400-meter run up to 150 meters from the finish. With a grandiose final sprint, he overtook all other runners in front of him and won the gold medal in a time of 45.1 s. Silver went to Wendell Mottley from Trinidad and Tobago , bronze to Andrzej Badeński from Poland . Then he won the team gold medal in the 4 x 400 meter relay , together with his teammates Ollan Cassell , Ulis Williams and Henry Carr in the world record time of 3: 00.7 minutes, before the relay from the United Kingdom (silver ) and from Trinidad and Tobago (bronze).

After the Olympics, Larrabee worked as a math teacher, opened a trading company with his brother, and was at times US representative of the sports shoe manufacturer Adidas , a position that allowed him to travel and socialize. In his free time he continued to work in various sports. In 2001 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the doctors only gave him a few weeks to live. Thanks to his iron will and chemotherapy , he had two more years to live. In December 2003, he was posthumously inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame .

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personal data
SURNAME Larrabee, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Larrabee, Michael Denny; Larrabee, Michael D.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sprinter and Olympic champion
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH San Buenaventura
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 2003
Place of death Santa Maria