John Bray (athlete)
John Bray ( August 19, 1875 *, † July 18, 1945 ) was an American athlete and medal winner at the Olympic Games.
Bray was a student at Williams College, one of the most prestigious private universities in the U.S., and also a member of the New York Athletic Club ( NYAC ). During this time he was one of the best middle distance runners in the United States. In his appearances in 1898 and 1899 in the championships of the Amateur Athletic Union ( AAU), which corresponded to the national championships in the U.S., he took over 880 yards and 1 mile each places in the top three. A title he could not win.
On May 30, 1900 Bray took part in a sports festival in Bayonne (New Jersey). He participated in one run over 1500 meters, an unusual for the U.S. route length. Its running time of 4:09,0 min mean the previously fastest ever time run and was unofficially announced as a world record. With this performance, he took his leave for the U.S. team that traveled to the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.
In Paris, Bray involved in the 800 -meter run and the 1500 -meter run. About 800 meters he could indeed qualify for the final, finished there but only the sixth and last place.
The Heats over 1500 meters should be on July 15, a Sunday, held. With Bray, three more U.S. athletes wanted to participate. Two of them, John Cregan and Alex Grant, any sport rejected on a Sunday for religious reasons and gave up a start. The organizers had basically no pity on the wishes of many U.S. athletes who wanted to deny any competition on a Sunday. They decided summarily, to dispense with the preliminaries above 1500 m because of the now smaller number of participants, and to organize the final run immediately. Bray could take advantage of the unexpected opportunity was the best U.S. athlete and took just under two meters in front of David Hall for third place. The first four were all under the world record time of Bray.
The rankings in the Olympics for John Bray:
- II Summer Olympic Games in 1900, Paris 1500 m - BRONZE with 4:07,2 min ( Gold Charles Bennett, GBR with 4:06,2 min; Silver at Henri Deloge, FRA with 4:06,6 min)
- 800 m - Sixth unknown time (Gold Alfred Tysoe, GBR with 2:01,2 min)
About the future life of John Bray, who reached an age of almost 70 years, nothing is known.