Jim Golliday

Jim Golliday
Personal information
Nationality American
Born (1931-04-23)April 23, 1931
Sacramento Ca, United States
Died April 10, 1971
Downey, Il, United States
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport Running
Event(s) 100 meters, 200 meters
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 100 y: 09.3 s, WR= (Evanston, USA; 14/03/1955)[2]

Jim Golliday was a former sprinter who was considered the best at 100 yards/meters in the world in 1951 and 1955.

In 1951 he was the United States 100 yards champion.

In 1955 he equalled the then world record for the 100 yards.

Career

Originally a champion school football player in Chicago, Golliday did not take track and field seriously until his senior year in 1949, winning the Illinois school's 100 yard title.[3]

As a student at Northwestern University, Golliday was USA champion in the 100 yard sprint in 1951.[3][4]

He was considered the favourite for the 100 metres title at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics[5] but injury denied him a chance to compete.[6][7]

An impressive win in the 1952 NCAA 100 yards event showed he was in good early season form (10.4 s into a stiff wind[1]). However, the recurrence of a muscle injury suffered in a semi-final of the 1952 AAU meet meant that he hobbled out of his heat at the 1952 US Olympic Trials.[6] Lindy Remigino, the winner of 100 metres title at the 1952 Olympics, magnanimously stated that "of course, Jimmy Golliday was the favourite in the trials. I think he was the fastest of us all".[5]

In 1952 he entered the United States Army, and competed on service teams in Europe, before returning to the United States and Northwestern University in 1954.[3][8][9]

In 1955, he equalled the world record for the 100 yards at 9.3 seconds.[8][10]

In 1956, he set an indoors world record for the 60 yards dash.,[11][12] but injury again denied him a chance to compete at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.[6] He trailed in last in his semi-final of the 100 metres due to a muscle injury - another occurrence of the type of injury that plagued him throughout his career.[13]

After retirement, he is reported to have lived in California selling insurance, before returning to Chicago because of ill health.[14]

He died in 1971, aged only 39. The cause of death was listed as pneumonia, a condition he suffered as a complication following surgery for ulcers at Downey Veterans Hospital in Illinois.[14]

World rankings

Golliday was voted by the experts at Track and Field News to be ranked among the best in the USA and the world in the 100 yards/meters sprint event in the period from 1951 to 1955.[15][16]

100 meters
Year World rank US rank
1951 1st 1st
1952 2nd 2nd
1953 7th 5th
1954 3rd 2nd
1955 1st 1st

References

  1. 1 2 3 E L Quercetani & G Pallicca, A World History of Sprint Racing 1850-2005, p 74
  2. ↑ E L Quercetani & G Pallicca, A World History of Sprint Racing 1850-2005, p 288.
  3. 1 2 3 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19550814&id=RUYxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6w8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6021,7084496, Milwaukee Sentinel, August 14, 1955
  4. ↑ http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/usa-nat-champs-history.html A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2003, Track and Field News, Retrieved 3 February 2012
  5. 1 2 Duncanson N, The Fastest Men on Earth, p. 112
  6. 1 2 3 http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf The History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field, R Hymans, USA Track & Field, 2008
  7. ↑ "The Milwaukee Journal - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  8. 1 2 "The Sunday News Journal - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  9. ↑ Company, Johnson Publishing (1954-06-10). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company.
  10. ↑ Company, Johnson Publishing (1955-05-26). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company.
  11. ↑ "The Milwaukee Journal - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  12. ↑ "The Age - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  13. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1132039/3/index.htm Sports Illustrated, 2 July 1956, Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  14. 1 2 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19710413&id=Yh8qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gSgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7267,1767469
  15. ↑ "World Rankings Index--Men's 100 meters" (PDF). Track and Field News.
  16. ↑ "U.S. Rankings Index--Men's 100 meters" (PDF). Track and Field News.

Further reading

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