Ronnie Ray Smith

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Ronald "Ronnie" Ray Smith (born March 28, 1949 in Los Angeles ; † March 31, 2013 there ) was an American sprinter and Olympic champion .

Running career

Smith was 1.82 m tall and weighed 79 kg. In his college days he started for the San José State University . After college, he started for the Southern California Striders .

At the US Championships on June 20, 1968 in Sacramento , Ronnie Ray Smith repeated in the semifinals of the 100-meter run the world best time of 9.9 seconds that Jim Hines and Charles Greene had previously achieved in the intermediate runs - the first time Breaking the 10-second sound barrier in running history. The tailwind was only 0.78 km / h, but the track, as it turned out afterwards, was eleven centimeters too long.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City , Smith won the US 4-by-100-meter relay together with Charles Greene, Mel Pender and Jim Hines in the world record time of 38.2 s.

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personal data
SURNAME Smith, Ronnie Ray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, Ronald Ray
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sprinter
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles
DATE OF DEATH March 31, 2013
Place of death los Angeles