Reggie Walker

Reggie Walker (actually: Reginald Edgar Walker, born March 16, 1889 in Durban, † November 5, 1951 ) was a South African athlete. At the Olympic Summer Games 1908 in London, he was Olympic champion in the 100 meters.

Biography

Walker came from the province of Natal. Although he had become South African champion in 1907, he was not one of the favorites for the Olympic Games. He initially had difficulty even to come to London because not enough money was ready for his trip. Only a sports writer collected enough donations to support Walker. In England, Walker was then coached by Sam Mussabini, which should lead the British sprinter Harold Abrahams to Olympic victory later.

In Olympic competition, some traded as favorites Sprinter could not qualify for the final. Walker made ​​it and had to compete against three North Americans there. One of them, the Americans James Rector had as Walker set the Olympic record in the flow. In the end, Walker won in 10.8 seconds with about half a meter ahead of Rector.

In his Olympic victory Walker was 19 years and 128 days old. He is the youngest athlete to date, the Olympic 100m champion was.