Ralph Hill (athlete)
Ralph Anthony Hill (born December 26, 1908 in Klamath Falls , Oregon , † October 17, 1994 ibid) was an American athlete who was successful in the early 1930s. He won an Olympic silver medal.
Hill graduated from the University of Oregon . The 1.80 m tall and 66 kg heavy athlete started for the Olympic Club San Francisco .
Career
Ralph Hill first drew attention to himself in 1930 when he set a new national record in a university comparison Oregon - Washington with 4: 12.4 minutes over the 1 mile, which is not part of the program of the US championships . In 1932 he won the Olympic elimination over 5000 m in 14: 55.7 minutes . This route was also not run at the US championships, apart from a few years at the turn of the century when two or three champions over 5000 m and the shorter 2-mile distance were chosen. It wasn't until 1933, when Hill was no longer active, that the 5000 m came into the program. In this way, he was denied winning a championship title.
However, he was compensated for this at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles , where he finished second in 14: 30.0 minutes between two Finns - Lauri Lehtinen (gold in 14: 30.0 minutes) and Lauri Virtanen (bronze in 14: 44.0 min) - came and also made headlines due to his fairness. Hill tried in the final sprint to roll up the field from behind, but could not get past the leading Lehtinen, as the latter blocked him by changing lanes. The indignant spectators demanded the disqualification of the Finn. Hill, who had won the preliminary run by around six seconds ahead of Lehtinen, decided not to protest on the grounds that he could not imagine that Lehtinen had deliberately obstructed him and that he was also satisfied with the silver medal.
After retiring from his active career, Hill made a living as a farmer.
In 1992, Henley High School in his hometown honored him by naming the sports grounds after him.
Web link
- Ralph Hill in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information on swissolympic.ch (PDF; 2.9 MB), accessed on January 11, 2011
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hill, Ralph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hill, Ralph Anthony (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American athlete |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 26, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Klamath Falls , Oregon |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th October 1994 |
| Place of death | Klamath Falls , Oregon |