Whitfield, Mal

▪ American athlete

byname of  Malvin G. Whitfield  

born Oct. 11, 1924, Bay City, Texas, U.S.

      American middle-distance runner, world-record holder for the 880-yard race (1950–54), for the 1,000-metre race (1953), and as a member of the U.S. team for the 4 × 440-yard relay race (1952–56) and the 4 × 880-yard relay race (1952).

      Whitfield ran for Ohio State University (Columbus) and for Los Angeles State College. In the 1948 Olympic Games at London and the 1952 games at Helsinki, he won the gold medals in the 800-metre races, and in 1948 he won a gold medal as a team member of the 4 × 400-metre relay race. In the 1952 games he won a silver medal in the same event. He did not qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in 1956.

      Whitfield, an Air Force sergeant, retired in 1956. He worked for the United States Information Agency and set up a training program and served as track coach for athletes in the new African nations.

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