Charles Decker Reidpath (September 20, 1889 – October 21, 1975) was an
Americantrack and fieldsprinter and winner of two gold medals at the
1912 Summer Olympics, who later went on to have an outstanding military career.[1]
Biography
Born in
Buffalo, New York, and a graduate of that city's
Lafayette High School, Reidpath became a collegiate track star at
Syracuse University, winning the 220 yd (201 m) and 440 yd (402 m) dashes in the 1912 intercollegiate games.
On graduating from Syracuse in 1912 with a degree in civil engineering, Reidpath was pressured by relatives to quit sports and take a position with the family business in Buffalo. Instead, he made the U.S. Olympic track team, and headed to
Stockholm,
Sweden. Reidpath won the 400 m in an
Olympic record shattering time of 48.2 seconds, a mark also ratified as a
world record. Running the anchor leg of the 4 × 400 m
relay, Reidpath helped the U.S. team set a
world record of 3:16.6. In the
200 metres competition he finished fifth.
Away from sports and the military, Reidpath worked for the Berdencer construction company from 1912 through 1937, when he was named director of buildings for Buffalo. For 15 years he worked in the city department of public works, and in 1956 helped build the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Buffalo Branch as superintendent of construction for
architects.