Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | Guthrie, Oklahoma, U.S. | October 28, 1900
Died | November 15, 1963 Pasadena, California, U.S | (aged 63)
Sport | |
Sport | Athletics |
Event | Decathlon |
Otto Anderson (October 28, 1900 – November 15, 1963) was an American athlete. [1] He competed at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and the 1924 Paris Olympics,. [2] [3]
Anderson was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma on October 28, 1900.[ citation needed] He started his athletics career with the hurdles while still a student at Pomona High School. Still at school, he qualified for the 1920 Antwerp Olympics team in the hop, skip and jump (now called the triple jump). [4] He competed at that event, but the results are proving difficult to find. [2] [5]
After leaving school, he attended the University of Southern California (U.S.C.) where he added more track events and football to his activities. [4] In the 1922 AAU Championship he finished second in the 220 yard hurdles. [2] In March 1923 at the annual games between Stanford University and U.S.C., he equalled the world record for the 220 yard "low hurdles" event, in 24.8 seconds. [6]
Anderson qualified for the fourth of four places to compete in the men's decathlon at the 1924 Olympics. [7] Once in Paris, he was injured in a bad landing in the sawdust pit during pole vault practice. His Achilles tendon was torn loose among other injuries, and he was unable to complete the competition. [3] [8]
1925 was his final year at U.S.C. and he was captain of their track team, and captain of the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (I.C.A.A.A.A.) champions. [5] [9] After graduating from U.S.C., he competed for Los Angeles AC and Hollywood AC. At the national AAU Championship he finished second in the decathlon. [2] [9]
Later he took a coaching role at Fremont High School in Los Angeles, where he coached Anne Vrana-O’Brien, who went on to represent the USA at the Olympics in 1928 and 1936. [10] [11]