William Harrison Dillard (born July 8, 1923) is an American athlete, the only one so far to win Olympic titles in both sprinting and hurdling events.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Harrison Dillard, after serving army duty during World War II, returned to college and resumed athletics, to which he had been inspired by Jesse Owens, who was also from Cleveland. He particularly excelled in hurdling, and was probably the best hurdler in the world shortly after the war. However, at the trials for the 1948 Summer Olympics, Dillard failed to qualify for the 110 m hurdles event, although he qualified as third (and last) for the 100 m, not his specialty.
At the Games, Dillard reached the final, which seemed to end in a dead heat between Dillard and another American, Barney Ewell. The finish photo showed Dillard had won, equalling the World Record as well. As a member of the 4 x 100 m relay team, he won another gold medal at the London Games.
Four years later, still a strong hurdler, Dillard did qualify for the 110 m hurdles event, and won the event in Helsinki. Another 4 x 100 m relay victory yielded Dillard's fourth Olympic title.
Harrison Dillard attempted to qualify for a third Olympics in 1956, but failed.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (men) | Olympic Champions in Men's 4x100 m relay
|
1912 Great Britain David Jacobs, Henry Macintosh, Victor d'Arcy & William Applegarth
1920 United States Charlie Paddock, Jackson Scholz, Loren Murchison & Morris Kirksey
1924 United States Loren Murchison, Louis Clarke, Frank Hussey & Alfred LeConey
1928 United States Frank Wykoff, James Quinn, Charles Borah & Henry Russell
1932 United States Robert Kiesel, Emmett Toppino, Hector Dyer & Frank Wykoff
1936 United States Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper & Frank Wykoff
1948 United States Barney Ewell, Lorenzo Wright, Harrison Dillard & Mel Patton
1952 United States Dean Smith, Harrison Dillard, Lindy Remigino & Andy Stanfield
1956 United States Ira Murchison, Leamon King, Thane Baker & Bobby Joe Morrow
1960 United team of Germany Bernd Cullmann, Armin Hary, Walter Mahlendorf & Martin Lauer
1964 United States Otis Drayton, Gerald Ashworth, Richard Stebbins & Bob Hayes
1968 United States Charles Greene, Melvin Pender, Ronnie Ray Smith & Jim Hines
1972 United States Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker & Edward Hart
1976 United States Harvey Glance, John Wesley Jones, Millard Hampton & Steven Riddick
1980 Soviet Union Vladimir Muravyov, Nikolay Sidorov, Aleksandr Aksinin & Andrey Prokofyev
1984 United States Sam Graddy, Ron Brown, Calvin Smith & Carl Lewis
1988 Soviet Union Viktor Bryzgin, Vladimir Krylov, Vladimir Muravyov & Vitaly Savin
1992 United States Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell & Carl Lewis
1996 Canada Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin & Donovan Bailey
2000 United States Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Brian Lewis & Maurice Greene
2004 Great Britain Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish & Mark Lewis-Francis
|
de:Harrison Dillard
