Larry James

Larry James (actually: George Lawrence James, born November 6, 1947 in Mount Pleasant, New York, † November 6, 2008 in Galloway Township, New Jersey) was an American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist in the 4 x 400 -meter relay. He set two world records, of which the holding with the U.S. relay nearly 24 years.

The 1.81 m wide Larry James had made himself a name as a hurdler, but switched in 1968 to the 400 -meter run. He won the indoor championship of college sports Association NCAA and the IC4A Championship over 440 yards in the years 1968 to 1970.

The Olympic Qualification of Americans was held in Echo Summit at Lake Tahoe in 2250 meters above sea level, to simulate the conditions of Mexico City. In the finals, the 400m Lee Evans won in 44.0 seconds before Larry James at 44.1 s Both remained well below the world record, the Tommie Smith gave 44.5 seconds. Evans had run with the so-called shoe brushes, a shoe with 68 Spikes, who was officially allowed, but was rejected by the IAAF. Therefore, the time of Larry James was officially recognized as a world record.

At the Olympic Games, the brush shoe was already officially banned. In low and intermediate run both Evans and James held back significantly. In the semifinals, Evans won in front of James. The finale on October 18, 1968, then the fastest 400 - meter race by then. Evans won in 43.86 seconds before James in 43.97 s and the third American Ron Freeman in 44.41 s, while the other finalists finished the race beyond the 45 -second limit. The world record of Lee Evans was offered only in 1988 by Harry Reynolds.

Even longer held the world record, which the U.S. team aufstellte on 20 October in the final of the 4 x 400 - meter relay. Vince Matthews, Ron Freeman, Larry James and Lee Evans remained in 2:56,16 minutes 3.8 seconds under the old record, which was undercut by the second-place relay race from Kenya. At the presentation ceremony, the four colored Americans presented with berets and raised fists as supporters of the Black Power movement. Only the U.S. relay at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul presented a world record, where Seoul is located almost at sea level. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​the longest-lived world record of 1968 was broken.

Larry James died of cancer at his 61st birthday.

Bests

  • 400 m: 43.97 s, 1968
  • 400m hurdles: 50.2 s
Mount Pleasant (New York) 4 × 400 metres relay 400 metres National Collegiate Athletic Association South Lake Tahoe, California Lee Evans (athlete) Track spikes Edward Lindberg Ted Meredith Charles Reidpath Cecil Griffiths Guy Butler (athlete) Commodore Cochran William Stevenson (athlete) Oliver MacDonald Alan Helffrich George Baird (athlete) Emerson Spencer Ivan Fuqua Karl Warner Bill Carr Freddie Wolff Godfrey Rampling Bill Roberts (athlete) Godfrey Brown Arthur Harnden Arthur Wint Leslie Laing George Rhoden Jesse Mashburn Jack Yerman Earl Young (athlete) Otis Davis Ollan Cassell Ulis Williams Henry Carr Robert Ouko (athlete) Julius Sang Herman Frazier Benny Brown Maxie Parks Remigijus Valiulis Mikhail Linge Nikolay Chernetskiy Sunder Nix Ray Armstead Alonzo Babers Antonio McKay Danny Everett Steve Lewis (sprinter) Kevin Robinzine Andrew Valmon Quincy Watts Michael Johnson (sprinter) Alvin Harrison LaMont Smith Derek Mills Anthuan Maybank Enefiok Udo-Obong Jude Monye Sunday Bada Otis Harris Derrick Brew Jeremy Wariner Darold Williamson LaShawn Merritt Angelo Taylor David Neville (athlete) Chris Brown (athlete) Demetrius Pinder Michael Mathieu Ramon Miller
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