Eddie Tolan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men's athletics
Olympic medal record
Gold	1932 Los Angeles	100 metres
Gold	1932 Los Angeles	200 metres

Thomas Edward "Eddie" Tolan (September 29, 1908 – January 30/31, 1967)^[1]^[2] was an American athlete and sprinter and winner of two gold medals at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

1 Biography
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Denver, Colorado, Eddie Tolan, also an American football player, won Michigan state championships as a young man at Cass Technical High School in Detroit. When he studied at the University of Michigan, Tolan set a World Record of 9.5s in the 100 yd dash, which gained him instantaneous fame in his home country. That same year, he also equalled the World Record in the 100 m on numerous occasions.

In 1932, by then winner of several AAU Championships, Tolan qualified for the 100 m and 200 m in the 1932 Summer Olympics. Ralph Metcalfe beat him twice in the Olympic Trials, however; the finishing order at the Games themselves was the other way round; Tolan set two Olympic Records to win both sprint events. Remarkably, neither Tolan nor Metcalfe was part of the American 4 x 100 m relay team, which nevertheless won that event in a new World Record.

After the Games, Tolan quit running, although he did run in several professional races later on. Tolan had a brief career in vaudeville, performing with Bill Robinson^[3]; he later became a school teacher.

He died in Detroit, Michigan at age 58 of a heart attack.

Tolan was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.^[4]

Tolan is the uncle of former Major League Baseball player Bobby Tolan. [1]