Walker_Smith_(hurdler)

Walker Smith (hurdler)

Walker Smith (hurdler)

American hurdler

Walker Breeze Smith (November 1, 1896 – February 27, 1993) was an American track and field athlete.[1] Smith attended Cornell University, where he set records in hurdling.[2] He was the IC4A Champion in 1919 in 120 yard high hurdles and 220 yard low hurdles. The year before he placed second in both events.[3]

Quick Facts Personal information, National team ...

Smith competed in the men's 110 metres hurdles at the 1920 Summer Olympics. He finished in 5th place.[4] In 1978, Smith was inducted into the Cornell University Hall of Fame.[5]

Personal life

Smith is named after his maternal grandfather, lumber and art magnate T. B. Walker.[4]

When Smith was 10 years old, he had his right eye removed, and wore an artificial eye.[4] He was not allowed to play football because of the missing eye, so he took up track & field.[4] As a child, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy.[4] During World War I in 1916, Smith went to France to serve in the American Field Service.[4] Due to his missing eye, he was designated with a 4-F classification and unable to serve in the US army, so he returned to the United States in 1917.[4]

Smith married Marge Billheimer in 1922. Together they have two children, a son and a daughter. They have eight grandchildren as well as eight great-grandchildren.[6]

After retiring from athletics and worked in various jobs, including real estate and investment companies.[4]

References

  1. [1]
    "Walker Smith". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  2. [2]
    The Cornell Alumni News. 1919. pp. 312–.
  3. [3]
    "Sports Reference - Olympics Walker Smith". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  4. [4]
    Hodak, George A. (1988). "AN OLYMPIAN'S ORAL HISTORY: WALKER SMITH 1920 OLYMPIC GAMES TRACK & FIELD" (PDF).
  5. [5]
    "Cornell Hall of Fame: Walker Smith Class of 1920".
  6. [6]
    "News of Alumni". Cornell Alumni News. Vol. 91, no. 4. November 1988. p. 43.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Walker_Smith_(hurdler), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.