Ivory Crockett

Ivory Crockett (born August 24, 1948) is a retired American sprinter who, for a time, held the distinction of being "the world's fastest man" when he broke the world record for the 100-yard dash in 1974.

Ivory Crockett
Crockett in 1969
Personal information
Born (1948-08-24) August 24, 1948[1]
Hall, Tennessee, U.S.
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Sprint
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100 yd – 9.0 (1974)
100 m – 10.1 (1971)
200 m – 20.2 (1972)[1]

Career

Crockett was born in Hall, Tennessee, where his father was a sharecropper. His family moved to Missouri when Crockett was a young boy.

Crockett was a track star from his time at high school in Webster Groves in St. Louis County, Missouri. In 1968 as a senior he ran the second fastest time that year by a high-school student. He was recruited to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, where he competed successfully on their track team, including becoming twice USA champion in the 100 yards sprint, in 1969 and 1970.[2]

In 1974, he ran the fastest 100-yard dash with manual timing of 9.0 seconds, a record he still holds.[3] This was deemed at the time by the Los Angeles Times as "Immortality in 9 Seconds Flat",[4] and he was quickly tagged with the title the world's fastest man by Track and Field News[5] who put him on their June 1974 cover.[6]

Crockett never ran in the Olympics for the USA having been eliminated at the semi-final stage of the 1972 USA Olympics trials and the quarter-finals of the 1976 trials.[7]

Crockett has gone on to become an administrator and director of business development for the College of Nursing at Forest Park Hospital in St Louis, Missouri.

After college, he moved back to Webster Groves where he had attended Brentwood and Webster Groves High School. His local community recognised his achievements by naming a park in his honour, 'Ivory Crockett Park'.[8] As a gift to his local community, Crockett started in 2004 'The Ivory Crockett Run "4" Webster', a fun walk/run.[9]

Crockett has not always been given the credit due to him for what he achieved as a track athlete.[10] Some people questioned his winning of his national titles because rivals were missing, and they even doubted the legitimacy of his world record. This rankled because he was married and had had to battle financial tough times to keep on running.[10]


World rankings

Crockett was voted to be ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 100 m sprint event in the period from 1969 to 1974, according to Track and Field News.[11][12] He was also voted to be ranked 10th in the US and 4th in the world in the 200 m sprint in 1973.[13][14]

100 meters
Year World rank US rank
1969 4th 2nd
1970 9th 5th
1971 – 9th
1972[15] – 7th
1973[16] 10th 3rd
1974[17] 6th 3rd
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References
  1. William Alley. trackfield.brinkster.net
  2. "A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2003". Track and Field News. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
  3. All-time best performances at 100 yards with manual timing. alltime-athletics.com
  4. Bob Oates (1974) Immortality in 9 seconds flat, LA Times.
  5. Jon Hendershott (June 1974) Track and Field News Interview Archived November 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. Past Covers 1967 Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. trackandfieldnews.com
  7. Richard Hymans (2008) The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field Archived March 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. USA Track & Field, 2008
  8. Ivory Crockett Park, Webster Groves. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  9. The Ivory Crockett Run "4" Webster, Sports Medicine Training Center. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  10. Pat Putnam (June 3, 1974) "Gold To Ivory... For sprinter Ivory Crockett, the unappreciated world-record holder...". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  11. "World Rankings Index—Men's 100 meters" (PDF). Track and Field News. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  12. "U.S. Rankings Index—Men's 100 meters" (PDF). Track and Field News. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  13. "World Rankings Index—Men's 200 meters" (PDF). Track and Field News. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 14, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  14. "U.S. Rankings Index—Men's 200 meters" (PDF). Track and Field News. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 13, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  15. 1972 Year Rankings at 100m. libero.it
  16. 1973 Year Rankings at 100m. libero.it
  17. 1974 Year Rankings at 100m. libero.it
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