George Rhoden

George Vincent Rhoden (born 13 December 1926)[1] is a former Jamaican athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1952. He was born in Kingston.

George Rhoden
Personal information
Full nameGeorge Vincent Rhoden
Born13 December 1926 (1926-12-13) (age 93)
Kingston, Jamaica
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Jamaica
Olympic Games
1952 Helsinki 400 metres
1952 Helsinki 4x400 metres relay

Rhoden, who lived in San Francisco, was one of the successful long sprinters from Jamaica in the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley. He competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, but did not win a medal, being eliminated in the heats of the 100 m and the semi-final of the 400 m. He was also a member of the heavily favoured Jamaican 4 × 400 m relay team, but when Wint pulled a muscle in the final, their chances at a medal were gone. On 22 August 1950 at Eskilstuna, Sweden, Rhoden set a new world record in 400 m of 45.8 s. He also won the AAU championships in 400 m from 1949 to 1951 and as a Morgan State University student, won the NCAA championships in 220 yd (200 m) in 1951 and in 440 yd (400 m) from 1950 to 1952. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Rhoden was more successful. As a world record holder he was one of the pre-race favourites in the 400 m which he won in a close battle with his compatriot McKenley, who had also been second in the 1948 Olympic 400 m.[2] As the anchor runner of the Jamaican relay team, Rhoden added a second Olympic gold, edging the United States by a tenth of a second, and setting a new world record (3:03.9).[3]

Competition record
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing Jamaica
1948 Olympics London, United Kingdom 4th, Heat 1, SF 400 m 47.7

References
  1. Biography and Statistics at Sports Reference Archived 29 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "RHODEN WINS 400 METER DASH IN 46s". Los Angeles Times. 16 August 1950.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Jamaica Gleaner
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