Arthur Blake (''Arthur Charles "Skipper" Blake;'' January 26, 1872 – October 23, 1944) was an American athlete who competed in the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

and the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Biography

Blake was born on January 26, 1872, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Blake competed for the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit, running-focused, organized sports association for the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the ...

and it was after a 1000 yard race he said in jest ''"I'm too good for Boston, I ought to go over and run the Marathon, at Athens, in the Olympic Games"'', the comment was overheard by

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

Arthur Burnham, who then offered to finance a US team over to Greece. At the 1896 Olympics, the

was run in a single heat, and Blake came in second to

Edwin Flack Edwin Harold Flack (5 November 1873 – 10 January 1935) was an Australian athlete and tennis player. Also known as "Teddy", he was Australia's first Olympian, being its only representative in 1896, and the first Olympic champion in the ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The race was a tight one, as Flack and Blake overtook the then-leader,

Albin Lermusiaux Albin Georges Lermusiaux (9 August 1874 – 20 January 1940) was a French athlete and shooting sports, sport shooter who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Career In total Lermusiaux competed in four different events at the 1896 Su ...

, in the final straight and ran side-by-side nearly all the way to the finish. Flack proved the quicker, however, and finished in 4:33.2. This was less than a second faster than Blake's time of 4:33.6. He also ran in the final event of the Games, the

. Blake, the only American entrant in the race, was in third place to Lermusiaux and Flack throughout the first half of the race. After 23 kilometres, however, Blake was unable to continue and quit the race. After he stopped competing in athletics he became an insurance salesman and settled down in

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

, he was also a keen golfer and sailor. In the 1984

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

, '' The First Olympics: Athens 1896'' he was portrayed by

Alex Hyde-White Alex Hyde-White (born 30 January 1959) is an American film and television actor. In 1978, he signed with Universal Pictures as one of the last " contract players" in Hollywood, in a group that included Lindsay Wagner, Andrew Stevens, Gretchen ...

. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Blake died on October 23, 1944, in

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Arthur Athletes (track and field) at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen American male middle-distance runners American male marathon runners 1872 births 1944 deaths Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field People from Haines City, Florida Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Harvard Crimson men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts Track and field athletes from Boston