Ronnie Ray Smith
Personal information | ||||||||||||
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Birth name | Ronald Ray Smith | |||||||||||
Born | (1949-03-28)March 28, 1949 Los Angeles, California, United States | |||||||||||
Died | March 31, 2013(2013-03-31) (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, United States | |||||||||||
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||
Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | |||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event(s) | 100 m, 200 m | |||||||||||
Club | Southern California Striders, Anaheim | |||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
Personal best(s) | 100 yd – 9.3 (1969) 100 m – 10.14 (9.9h) (1968) 200 m – 20.4 (1968) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Ronald Ray Smith (March 28, 1949 – March 31, 2013) was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He attended San Jose State College during the "Speed City" era, coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter and graduating in sociology.[1]
At the 1968 AAU Championships, Ronnie Ray Smith equaled the 100 m world record in the semifinal, repeating the same time of 9.9 which was run by Jim Hines in the same race and Charles Greene in the other semifinal of the same competition.[2] That evening of June 20, 1968, at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California has been dubbed by track and field historians as the "Night of Speed."[3][4] Since Smith was still 19 years old at the time, that mark also became the World Junior Record, which lasted for exactly 8 years.
At the Mexico Olympics, Smith ran the third leg in the American 4 × 100 m relay team that won the gold medal and set a new world record of 38.24 seconds.[1]
Before arriving at San Jose State, Smith ran at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, finishing third in the 220 yard dash at the CIF California State Meet in 1966.[5]
After retiring from competitions Smith worked at the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department. He was inducted into the San Jose State Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
Smith died in a hospice facility in Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 2013. He was 64.[6] His funeral was featured on the TLC reality TV show Best Funeral Ever. In honor and memory of his 1968 gold medal performance, his casket "ran" a 100yd race and received a gold medal in a mock Olympic-style funeral.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Ronnie Ray Smith. sports-reference.com
- ^ IAAF Record Progression. IAAF. p. 547
- ^ "Olympics athletics memorabilia Sports Memorabilia Affordable Gift or Investment". Cricketcollectables.net. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ "Track & Field News • View topic – 100 m of 1968 AAU championship". Trackandfieldnews.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ California State Meet Results – 1915 to present. Prepcaltrack.com. Retrieved on July 12, 2015.
- ^ "Olympic gold medalist Ronnie Ray Smith dies". ContraCostaTimes.com. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ Videos. TLC (May 9, 2014). Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
External links
- Ronnie Ray Smith at World Athletics
- Ronnie Ray Smith at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
Records | ||
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Preceded by Unknown | 100 metres world junior record holder June 20, 1968 – June 20, 1976 | Succeeded by |
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- 1912: David Jacobs, Henry Macintosh, Victor d'Arcy, Willie Applegarth (GBR)
- 1920: Charley Paddock, Jackson Scholz, Loren Murchison, Morris Kirksey (USA)
- 1924: Loren Murchison, Louis Clarke, Frank Hussey, Al LeConey (USA)
- 1928: Frank Wykoff, James Quinn, Charley Borah, Henry Russell (USA)
- 1932: Bob Kiesel, Emmett Toppino, Hector Dyer, Frank Wykoff (USA)
- 1936: Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, Frank Wykoff (USA)
- 1948: Barney Ewell, Lorenzo Wright, Harrison Dillard, Mel Patton (USA)
- 1952: Dean Smith, Harrison Dillard, Lindy Remigino, Andy Stanfield (USA)
- 1956: Ira Murchison, Leamon King, Thane Baker, Bobby Morrow (USA)
- 1960: Bernd Cullmann, Armin Hary, Walter Mahlendorf, Martin Lauer (EUA)
- 1964: Paul Drayton, Gerry Ashworth, Richard Stebbins, Bob Hayes (USA)
- 1968: Charles Greene, Mel Pender, Ronnie Ray Smith, Jim Hines (USA)
- 1972: Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker, Eddie Hart (USA)
- 1976: Harvey Glance, Lam Jones, Millard Hampton, Steve Riddick (USA)
- 1980: Vladimir Muravyov, Nikolay Sidorov, Aleksandr Aksinin, Andrey Prokofyev (URS)
- 1984: Sam Graddy, Ron Brown, Calvin Smith, Carl Lewis (USA)
- 1988: Viktor Bryzhin, Vladimir Krylov, Vladimir Muravyov, Vitaliy Savin (URS)
- 1992: Michael Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl Lewis, James Jett (USA)
- 1996: Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin, Donovan Bailey, Carlton Chambers (CAN)
- 2000: Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Brian Lewis, Maurice Greene, Tim Montgomery, Kenny Brokenburr (USA)
- 2004: Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish, Mark Lewis-Francis (GBR)
- 2008: Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Richard Thompson, Aaron Armstrong (TTO)
- 2012: Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt, Bailey-Cole (JAM)
- 2016: Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, Nickel Ashmeade, Usain Bolt, Jevaughn Minzie, Kemar Bailey-Cole (JAM)
- 2020: Lorenzo Patta, Marcell Jacobs, Fausto Desalu, Filippo Tortu (ITA)
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