Tuskegee Airman and US Olympic athlete 1924–2015)
Mal Whitfield
Whitfield in 1998
Birth name Malvin Greston Whitfield Nickname Marvelous Mal Born (1924-10-11 ) October 11, 1924
Bay City, Texas , U.S. Died November 19, 2015(2015-11-19) (aged 91)
Washington, D.C. , U.S. Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) Weight 168 lb (76 kg) Sport Track and field Event(s)
400 metres ,
800 metres Personal best(s) 400 m : 45.9 (1953)800 m : 1:47.9 (1953)
Malvin Greston Whitfield (October 11, 1924 – November 19, 2015) was an American athlete,
goodwill ambassador , and
airman . Nicknamed "Marvelous Mal", he was the
Olympic champion in the
800 meters at the
1948 and
1952 Summer Olympics , and a member of the
1948 gold medal team in the
4 × 400 meters relay . Overall, Whitfield was a five-time Olympic medalist (three gold, one silver, one bronze). After his competitive career, he worked for 47 years as a coach, goodwill ambassador, as well as an athletic mentor in
Africa on behalf of the
United States Information Service .
[1]
Early life
Whitfield was born in
Bay City, Texas . He moved to the
Watts district of
Los Angeles when he was 4 years old. At that age, his father died. His mother died when he was 12, after which he was raised by his older sister. He sneaked into the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the
1932 Summer Olympic Games , where he watched
Eddie Tolan defeat
Ralph Metcalfe in the 100 meter race, an event that spurred his own Olympic goals.
[1]
Whitfield joined the
United States Army Air Forces in 1943 as a member of the
Tuskegee Airmen .
[2] After
World War II , he remained in the military, but also enrolled at
Ohio State University . In the early 1950s, he also served in the
United States Air Force during the
Korean War , flying 27 combat missions as a
tail gunner .
[3] Under the coaching of
Larry Snyder , he won the
NCAA title while at Ohio State in the 800 m in 1948 and 880 yd in 1949. After leaving the university, he won the
AAU title from 1949 to 1951 at 800 m, in 1953 and 1954 at 880 yd and in 1952 at 400 m. He also won the 800 m at the 1951
Pan American Games in
Buenos Aires ,
Argentina .
[4]
Olympic career
Whitfield at the 1948 Summer Olympics
At the
1948 Olympics in
London , Whitfield won the 800 m and was a member of the winning 4 × 400 m
relay team. He also earned a bronze medal in the 400 m. At the
1952 Olympics in
Helsinki ,
Finland , he repeated his 800 m victory. He also earned a silver medal as a member of United States 4 × 400 m relay team. He set a
world record at 880 yd of 1:49.2 in 1950 and dropped it to 1:48.6 in 1952. In 1954, Whitfield became the first black athlete to win the
James E. Sullivan Award , given annually by the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAU) to the outstanding amateur athlete in the country. Whitfield narrowly missed making the
1956 Olympic team while a student at
California State University, Los Angeles , and he retired from track competition shortly thereafter.
[4]
Sports ambassador
After graduating, he worked for the
United States Department of State and the
United States Information Service , conducting sports clinics in
Africa .
[5]
In his 47 years in Africa, Whitfield trained and gave consultation to dozens of athletes who represented their countries as Olympians and
All-Africa Games champions. He coached in 20 countries and lived in
Kenya ,
Uganda and
Egypt .
[1] Whitfield also arranged sports scholarships for over 5,000 African athletes to study in the United States.
[6] During his career as a diplomat, he traveled to over 132 countries and played a key role in training and developing African athletes. United States President
Ronald Reagan wrote of him: "Whether flying combat missions over Korea, or winning gold medal after gold medal at the Olympics, or serving as an ambassador of goodwill among the young athletes of Africa, you have given your all. This country is proud of you, and grateful to you." Shortly after his retirement from government service in 1989, Whitfield was invited to the Oval Office, where President
George H. W. Bush recognized his service to the nation and the world.
[7]
Awards
In 1954, Whitfield won the
James E. Sullivan Award for amateur athletics.
[1] Whitfield was inducted into the
National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974, and
Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 1978. Among track and field athletes, only
Jesse Owens had been inducted before him.
[3]
[8]
Memoir
Whitfield wrote the book Learning to Run , which was translated into French.
[5]
[9] His memoir was published by his foundation and titled Beyond the Finish Line .
[10]
Personal life
He was married to Nola Whitfield. He was also the father of Nyna Konishi, Lonnie Whitfield,
CNN anchor
Fredricka Whitfield
[11] and accomplished high jumper Ed Wright.
[12] In 1989 Whitfield founded the Mal Whitfield Foundation for the promotion of sports, academics, and culture. The foundation has distributed 5,000 athletic scholarships.
[13]
Whitfield died at a
Department of Veterans Affairs hospice center in
Washington, D.C. on the night of November 19, 2015, aged 91.
[14] He was interred at
Arlington National Cemetery .
[2]
Competition record
See also
References
^
a
b
c
d Litsky, Frank (November 19, 2015).
"Mal Whitfield, Olympic Gold Medalist and Tuskegee Airman, Dies at 91" . New York Times . Retrieved November 19, 2015 .
^
a
b Shapira, Ian.
"Olympian and Tuskegee Airman who survived segregation and combat is buried at Arlington" . The Washington Post . Retrieved 26 February 2022 .
^
a
b
"Three-Time Olympic Track Champion Mal Whitfield Dies at 91" . Team USA.org. Archived from
the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015 .
^
a
b
"Mal Whitfield" . Sports Reference. Archived from
the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2015 .
^
a
b Garnett, Barnard (October 31, 1968).
"US Ex-Olympian Trained African Olympic Stars" . Jet . 35 (4): 57–59.
^
"Marvelous" Mal Whitfield Biography – Page 3
Archived 2011-10-04 at the
Wayback Machine
^
"Marvelous" Mal Whitfield Biography – Page 2
Archived 2011-10-04 at the
Wayback Machine
^
"Men's Varsity "O" Hall of Fame" . Ohio State Buckeyes. Archived from
the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2015 .
^ Whitfield, Mal (1967). Learning to Run . East African Pub. House.
OCLC
639849 .
^ Whitfield, Mal (2002). Beyond the Finish Line . Whitfield Foundation.
ISBN
0972443908 .
OCLC
51464414 .
^
Navy SEALs in Afghanistan; Dance fever. July 6, 2005.
CNN . Retrieved July 12, 2008
^
"Cal's Wright has genes of an Olympic champion" . SFGate . 10 May 2007.
^
"The Mal Whitfield Foundation" . 2004. Retrieved November 19, 2015 .
^ Schudel, Matt.
"Mal Whitfield, three-time Olympic gold medalist, dies at 91" . Washington Post . Retrieved 22 November 2015 .
Further reading
Walter, John C., and Malina Iida. Better Than the Best: Black Athletes Speak, 1920–2007 . Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010.
ISBN
9780295990538
External links
Medley 4 × 400 m
1912 :
Mel Sheppard ,
Edward Lindberg ,
Ted Meredith ,
Charles Reidpath (
USA )
1920 :
Cecil Griffiths ,
Robert Lindsay ,
John Ainsworth-Davis ,
Guy Butler (
GBR )
1924 :
Commodore Cochran ,
Alan Helffrich ,
Oliver Macdonald ,
William Stevenson (
USA )
1928 :
George Baird ,
Emerson Spencer ,
Fred Alderman ,
Ray Barbuti (
USA )
1932 :
Ivan Fuqua ,
Ed Ablowich ,
Karl Warner ,
Bill Carr (
USA )
1936 :
Freddie Wolff ,
Godfrey Rampling ,
Bill Roberts ,
Godfrey Brown (
GBR )
1948 :
Arthur Harnden ,
Cliff Bourland ,
Roy Cochran ,
Mal Whitfield (
USA )
1952 :
Arthur Wint ,
Leslie Laing ,
Herb McKenley ,
George Rhoden (
JAM )
1956 :
Charles Jenkins Sr. ,
Lou Jones ,
Jesse Mashburn ,
Tom Courtney (
USA )
1960 :
Jack Yerman ,
Earl Young ,
Glenn Davis ,
Otis Davis (
USA )
1964 :
Ollan Cassell ,
Mike Larrabee ,
Ulis Williams ,
Henry Carr (
USA )
1968 :
Vincent Matthews ,
Ron Freeman ,
Larry James ,
Lee Evans (
USA )
1972 :
Charles Asati ,
Munyoro Nyamau ,
Robert Ouko ,
Julius Sang (
KEN )
1976 :
Herman Frazier ,
Benny Brown ,
Fred Newhouse ,
Maxie Parks (
USA )
1980 :
Remigijus Valiulis ,
Mikhail Linge ,
Nikolay Chernetskiy ,
Viktor Markin (
URS )
1984 :
Sunder Nix ,
Ray Armstead ,
Alonzo Babers ,
Antonio McKay (
USA )
1988 :
Danny Everett ,
Steve Lewis ,
Kevin Robinzine ,
Butch Reynolds ,
Antonio McKay ,
Andrew Valmon (
USA )
1992 :
Andrew Valmon ,
Quincy Watts ,
Michael Johnson ,
Steve Lewis ,
Darnell Hall ,
Charles Jenkins Jr. (
USA )
1996 :
LaMont Smith ,
Alvin Harrison ,
Derek Mills ,
Anthuan Maybank ,
Jason Rouser (
USA )
2000 :
Clement Chukwu ,
Jude Monye ,
Sunday Bada ,
Enefiok Udo-Obong ,
Nduka Awazie ,
Fidelis Gadzama (
NGR )
2004 :
Otis Harris ,
Derrick Brew ,
Jeremy Wariner ,
Darold Williamson ,
Andrew Rock ,
Kelly Willie (
USA )
2008 :
LaShawn Merritt ,
Angelo Taylor ,
David Neville ,
Jeremy Wariner ,
Kerron Clement ,
Reggie Witherspoon (
USA )
2012 :
Chris Brown ,
Demetrius Pinder ,
Michael Mathieu ,
Ramon Miller (
BAH )
2016 :
Arman Hall ,
Tony McQuay ,
Gil Roberts ,
LaShawn Merritt ,
Kyle Clemons ,
David Verburg (
USA )
2020 :
Michael Cherry ,
Michael Norman ,
Bryce Deadmon ,
Rai Benjamin ,
Trevor Stewart ,
Randolph Ross ,
Vernon Norwood (
USA )
1951 :
B. Brown ,
M. Whitfield ,
J. Voight ,
H. Maiocco (
USA )
1955 :
J. Mashburn ,
L. Spurrier ,
J. Lea ,
L. Jones (
USA )
1959 :
Mel Spence ,
G. Kerr ,
Mal Spence ,
B. Ince (
BWI )
1963 :
O. Cassell ,
J. Johnson ,
R. Edmunds ,
E. Young (
USA )
1967 :
V. Matthews ,
E. Taylor ,
E. Stinson ,
L. Evans (
USA )
1971 :
J. Smith ,
D. Alexander ,
F. Newhouse ,
T. Turner (
USA )
1975 :
H. Frazier ,
R. Taylor ,
M. Peoples ,
R. Ray (
USA )
1979 :
T. Darden ,
M. Peoples ,
H. Frazier ,
J. Walker (
USA )
1983 :
A. Babers ,
M. Bradley ,
J. Rolle ,
E. Carey (
USA )
1987 :
R. Pierre ,
K. Robinzine ,
R. Haley ,
M. Rowe (
USA )
1991 :
H. Herrera ,
A. Pavó ,
J. Valentín ,
L. Martínez (
CUB )
1995 :
J. Crusellas ,
N. Téllez ,
O. Mena ,
I. García (
CUB )
1999 :
D. Clarke ,
M. McDonald ,
D. McFarlane ,
G. Haughton (
JAM )
2003 :
D. Clarke ,
L. Spence ,
S. Ayre ,
M. Campbell (
JAM )
2007 :
A. Williams ,
A. Moncur ,
M. Mathieu ,
C. Brown (
BAH )
2011 :
N. Ruíz ,
R. Acea ,
O. Cisneros ,
W. Collazo (
CUB )
2015 :
R. Quow ,
J. Solomon ,
E. Mayers ,
M. Cedenio (
TTO )
2019 :
J. Perlaza ,
D. Palomeque ,
J. Solís ,
A. Zambrano (
COL )
2023 :
L. Carvalho ,
M. Lima ,
D. Hernandes ,
L. Vilar (
BRA )
1876-1979Amateur Athletic Union 1980-1992The Athletics Congress 1992 onwardsUSA Track & Field Notes
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, and since 1992, championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic .
1876–2016 Notes
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, and since 1992, championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic .
1906–1979Amateur Athletic Union 1980–1992The Athletics Congress 1993–presentUSA Track & Field Notes *Distances have varied as follows: 1000 yards (1906–1986), 800 meters (1987–date) except 1000 meters (2015, 2017,2019)
1906–1979Amateur Athletic Union 1981–1992The Athletics Congress 1993–presentUSA Track & Field Notes *Distances have varied as follows: 600 yards (1906–1986), 500 meters (1987–1993) except 600 meters (odd numbered years since 2015)
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