Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | William Arthur Carr | |||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||
Born | Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S. | October 24, 1909|||||||||||||||||
Died | January 14, 1966 Tokyo, Japan | (aged 56)|||||||||||||||||
Education | University of Pennsylvania | |||||||||||||||||
Occupation | corporate executive | |||||||||||||||||
Employer | Prismo Safety Products | |||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
Sport | outdoor track and field | |||||||||||||||||
University team | Penn Quakers | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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William "Bill" Arthur Carr (October 24, 1909 – January 14, 1966) was an American athlete and double Olympic champion in 1932. [1] Called the "Arkansas flyer," Carr never lost a race during his college and Olympic career. [2] [3]
Carr was born and raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. [4] His parents were Ann Holmes and William L. Carr, a traveling salesman with the Mann-Tankersley Drug Co. [1] [5] He received his elementary school education at Lakeside School in Pine Bluff. [6]
He attended Pine Bluff High School in 1925. [7] In his freshman year, he joined the track team because he was too small for basketball or football. [7] He demonstrated skill at jumping, but he broke both ankles leaping over a bar and had resign late in the season. [3]
Carr was recruited back to the high school track team in 1927. [1] He received national attention at the spring state meet in Arkandelphia for his record–making high jump of 6.75 feet and a long jump of 21 feet 4 inches. [1] In addition to winning those two events, he came in second at the 100-yard sprint and 220-yard sprint. [1] In a prior track meet, he had already matched the Arkansas record in the 100-yard event. [1] As a result, national sports writers were calling him the top high school track star in the United States. [1]
A local banker convinced Carr to enroll in the Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania for 1928 in preparation for an Ivy League college. [1] [2] There, he was coached by Jimmy Curran. [8] While he was at Mercersburg, they won the annual inter-scholastic track meet to become state champions. [9] Carr was the Pennsylvania champion in the 100-meter sprint, the 200-meter sprint, and the long jump, setting a state record for the latter. [1] [9] He graduated from Mercersburg in the spring of 1929. [10]
Carr was recruited by the University of Pennsylvania and started there in 1929. [1] He was on the track team and served as its co-captain. [2] At Penn, he was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi ( St. Anthony Hall) and a member of the Sphinx Senior Society. [2] He was president of the sophomore class and received the Golden Spoon as the "most outstanding, all-around student." [1] For three years, he received the Varsity Club scholarship "for scholastic excellence, character and athletic ability." [11] He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1933 with a B.S. in economics. [2]
At the University of Pennsylvania, Carr was coached by 1904 Olympian Lawson Robertson who called him "the fastest Carr in America." [12] In college, he never lost the 400-meter sprint. [1] He also anchored the 1,600-meter relay team—which also never lost a competition during his college years. [1] His favorite events became the long jump, the 440-meter, and the 800-meter. [13]
He was the 1931 Amateur Athletic Union Indoor national champion in the 300-yards event. [14] At the 1932 Intercollegiate Championships ( IC4A) championships in Berkeley California, Carr beat world-record holder Ben Eastman in the 440-yard dash, winning the IC4A 440-yard title for 1932. [14] [1] His time was 47.0 seconds; Eastman's record was 46.4 seconds. [1] Carr was ranked number one in the world at the 400-meters.at the end of the 1932 season. [14]
Several weeks later in Palo Alto, California, Carr again outran Eastman at the 1932 USA Outdoor Championships and 1932 United States Olympic trials (track and field). [14] In addition to making the United States Olympic team, Carr was also a favorite for the 400-meter gold medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. [13]
On August 4, 1932 in Los Angeles Olympics, Carr placed first in his semi-final 400-meter heat with a time of 47.2 seconds, breaking Eric Liddell’s world record time of 47.6 seconds from the 1924 Summer Olympics. [1] However, Eastman matched Liddell’s record in his semi-final heat, setting up a final Olympic race that The New York Times called the “400-meter race of the century." [1] In the final, Eastman led during most of the race, but Carr emerged victorious in the last 100-meters with a time of 46.2 seconds. [1] He had not only won a gold medal, but he also had set a world record. [1] A few days later, Carr won another gold medal as the anchor of America's 4 × 400-meter relay team. [14] Although not scheduled to complete, he substituted for Arnold Adams who had to withdraw due to an injury. [13] They set a new world record of 3:08.2. [15]
Back at college in 1933, Carr had a "lackluster" performance in the spring season. [1] On January 25, 1933, he announced that he would retire from track after the 1933 season. [11] He said, "I expect to be a member of the United States track and field team that will tour Europe next summer. When the team returns, my uniform and spiked shoes will be put away for good." [11] He planned on retiring so that he could focus on a new career in business. [11]
Event | Time | Date | Competition | Record held through | Reference |
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400-meter | 46.20 | August 5, 1932 | 1932 Summer Olympics | 1948 (tied) | [14] [7] |
1,600-meter relay | 3.08.20 | August 7, 1932 | 1932 Summer Olympics | [14] |
On March 18, 1933, Carr was in a car accident that broke both his ankles and his right pelvis. [3] At the time of the two-car accident, he was standing on the car's running board. [3] He was in the hospital for four week and was not able to compete in track again. [3] He had a slight limp as a result of his injuries. [16]
In 1934, Carr started working for the Insurance Company of North America. [12] During World War II, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as an officer in naval intelligence the Pacific Theater. [2] [12] While there, he met his wife, Rachel Elizabeth Manasseh, in Shanghai, China. [1] [12] She was a lecturer and writer about Oriental art. [12] They had one son, Alain. [12]
After the war, they lived in Japan where he became the Far Eastern general manager of the Insurance Company of North America. [1] [12] Next, he worked for Pan-American World Airways as the general personnel manager. [12] He became the executive director of the International Center for overseas students in Midtown, New York. [12] He then moved to Tokyo, Japan where he was both vice president of Prismo Safety Products, a Pennsylvania highway safety and building equipment company, and the Far East representative of the Potter Brothers, a highway building equipment dealer from New Jersey. [12] [2]
In 1966, Carr died from congestive heart failure in Tokyo at the age of 56. [1] He was buried in Graceland Cemetery in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. [1]