William Stevenson (athlete)

William Edwards Stevenson (born October 25, 1900 in Chicago , Illinois , † April 2, 1985 in Fort Myers , Florida ) was an American track and field athlete who was active as a sprinter in the 1920s. His special route was the 400 meters .

At the VIII Olympic Games in Paris in 1924 , he was a member of the 4 x 400 meter relay , which consisted of Commodore Cochran , Alan Helffrich , Oliver MacDonald and William Stevenson as the final runner in the world record time of 3: 16.0 min won the gold medal far ahead of Sweden and Great Britain.

At the AAU Championships over 440 yards he won the title (48.6 s) in 1921; In 1922 and 1924 he placed second, in 1927 third. In 1923 he participated in the AAA Championships in London , where he was victorious over 440 yards in 49.6 s.

Stevenson studied law at Oxford . After returning to the USA, he and three other lawyers founded the New York Law Partnership . He was also active in the social field: During the Second World War , he and his wife coordinated the operations of the American Red Cross in Great Britain, Italy, North Africa and Sicily, for which both were awarded the Bronze Star . In 1946, Stevenson was named president of Oberlin College , Ohio . He stayed in this post until 1962, when US President John F. Kennedy sent him to the Philippines as Ambassador of the United States for three years , where he succeeded John D. Hickerson .

Web links

• William Stevenson in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

predecessor	Office	successor
John D. Hickerson	Ambassador to the Philippines 1962–1964	William McCormick Blair, Jr.