Bobby Morrow

Bobby Morrow
Morrow with wife in 1956
Personal information
Born October 15, 1935 (1935-10-15) (age 83)
Harlingen, Texas, U.S.[1]
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 100–400 m
Club ACU Wildcats, Abilene[2]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 100 n – 10.2 (1956)
200 m – 20.75 (1956)
400 m – 47.7 (1959)[2][3]
Medal record
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
1956 Melbourne 100 meters
1956 Melbourne 200 meters
1956 Melbourne 4×100 m relay

Bobby Joe Morrow (born October 15, 1935) is a retired American sprinter who won three gold medals at the 1956 Olympics. He has been called "the dominant sprinter of the 1950s" and "the most relaxed sprinter of all time, even more so than his hero Jesse Owens".[4]

Biography

Bobby Joe Morrow was born in Harlingen, Texas,[2] and raised on a farm in San Benito, Texas. Before becoming a sprinter, Morrow played football for San Benito High School. Morrow also was a sprinter at Abilene Christian University and a member of the men's club Frater Sodalis.

Morrow won the 1955 AAU 100-yard title. His most successful season was in 1956, when he was chosen by Sports Illustrated as "Sportsman of the Year". Morrow won the sprint double in the national college championships and defended his AAU title. Morrow then went to the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, where he won three gold medals and was the leader of the American sprint team. First, he was victorious in the 100-meter dash. He then led an American sweep of the medals in the 200-meter dash, while equaling the world record at that distance with a time of 20.6 seconds (unofficially auto-timed at 20.75). He won his third gold by anchoring the 4×100-meter relay team to a world record time.[2][3]

Morrow achieved great fame after winning his three gold medals, and was featured on the covers of Life magazine and SPORT magazine, as well as Sports Illustrated. He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, and addressed a joint session of the Texas legislature.[5]

Morrow's success on a national level continued after the Olympics, but he retired in 1958 to become a farmer and a woodworker. He made a short comeback before the 1960 Olympics but failed to qualify for the US Olympic team.

In October 2006, San Benito High School named its new 11,000 seat sporting facility Bobby Morrow Stadium.[6] Morrow was on hand to help dedicate the new facility. He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989[1] and into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Bobby Morrow. USATF Hall of Fame
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bobby Morrow. sports-reference.com
  3. 1 2 Bobby Morrow. trackfield.brinkster.net
  4. ↑ Sears, Edward Seldon (2001). Running Through the Ages. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 236–238. ISBN 9780786409716.
  5. ↑ Martin, William (August 1984). "The Fastest Nice Christian Boy in the World: Then Bobby Morrow Lost His Speed and He Began to Have Certain Doubts". Texas Monthly. Austin, Texas. pp. 114–201.
  6. ↑ Bobby Morrow Stadium – San Benito, Texas. Texasbob.com (2013-04-14). Retrieved on 2017-08-21.
  7. ↑ Inductees – Name, Category, Year. TX TF Hall of Fame.
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