Robert D. Osgood (April 21, 1915 – July 24, 1990) was an American track and field athlete who set a world record in the 120-yard high hurdles in May 1937 with a time of 14 seconds flat. He also won the Big Ten Conference championship in the event in both 1936 and 1937. He was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1983.

Early years in Ohio

Osgood was a native of

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland, Greater Clevelan ...

, where he was a state track champion in the 120-yard high hurdles. He graduated from Lakewood High School in 1933.

University of Michigan

Osgood enrolled at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1934 where he ran track under renowned Michigan Track Coach Charles B. Hoyt. At the 1936 Big Ten Conference track championship, Osgood won the 120-yard high hurdles in 1936 with a time of 14.2 seconds. His time in the high hurdles tied

Percy Beard Percy Morris Beard (January 26, 1908 – March 27, 1990) was an American college and international track and field athlete who specialized in the high hurdles event, and won an Olympic silver medal. Beard later became a nationally prominent ...

's world record of 14.2 seconds." He also placed second to

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

in the low hurdles. The 1936 race between Osgood and Owens is one of the most told stories about Jesse Owens. Owens started badly and was in last place (trailing by 18 to 20 yards). Osgood was leading and reportedly said that when Owens passed him, "it sounded like a thunderstorm." At the end of the 1936 track season, Osgood was selected as the captain for the 1937 team.

World record in the 120-yard high hurdles

The 1937 Michigan track team led by Osgood won the Big Ten Conference championship. At the Big Ten championship held in May 1937 at

Ferry Field Ferry Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It opened in 1906 and was home to the Michigan Wolverines football team prior to the opening of Michigan Stadium in 1927. It had a capacity of 46,000. It is currently used as a tai ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

, Osgood broke the world's record for the 120-yard high hurdles with a time of 14.0 seconds, one-tenth of a second under the previous world record set by 1936 Olympic gold medalist,

Forrest Towns Forrest Grady "Spec" Towns (February 6, 1914 – April 9, 1991) was an American track and field athlete. He was the 1936 Olympic champion in the 110 m hurdles and broke the world record in that event three times. Born in Fitzgerald, Georgia, ...

. The University of Michigan yearbook for 1937 noted that the race was run in the "driving rain, which soon turned the track into a miniature lake," requiring the athletes to splash their way "through the mud." ''The New York Times'' reported on Osgood's accomplishment as follows: "Captain Robert D. Osgood, a lanky senior from Lakewood, Ohio, scissored over the 120-yard high hurdles in the dazzling world-record time of 14 seconds today to embellish a smashing Michigan team triumph in the thirty-seventh annual Western Conference track and field championship meet." Osgood's world record performance was cited at the end of 1937 as one of the highlights of the year's track season. One columnist described the performance as follows: "Driving through a sheet of rain that beat into his face with every stride, Bob Osgood shattered everything that had ever been done before in the 120-yard high hurdles in winning the Big Ten championship at Ann Arbor in 14 flat. This under miserable conditions on a wet and slow track." Another columnist noted that the "bespectacled young man" had set the record "in the rain and puddles of water," and asked, "What might Bob Osgood have done if the cinders had been dry and fast with no drizzle beating into his face?" Osgood's world record was broken in April 1938 when Rice Institute's

Fred Wolcott Fred Arrington Wolcott (November 28, 1915 – January 26, 1972) was an American track and field athlete who was United States champion and world record holder in the sprint hurdles events in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Track career After g ...

ran the 120-yard high hurdles with a downwind burst of 13.9 seconds.

Honors

Osgood was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1983. And in 1992, he was also posthumously inducted into the Lakewood Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osgood, Bob 1915 births 1990 deaths American male hurdlers Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Lakewood, Ohio