Charles Beetham (April 30, 1914 – January 28, 1997) was an American

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. He was United States champion in the

800-meter run The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

in 1936, 1939, 1940 and 1941 and

NCAA champion The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in 1936; he entered the 1936 United States Olympic Trials as one of the favorites, but fell in the final and failed to qualify for the Olympics.

Early life and collegiate career

Beetham was born in

Cadiz, Ohio Cadiz ( ) is a village in Cadiz Township, Harrison County, Ohio, United States located about 20 miles from Steubenville. The population was 3,353 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Harrison County. History Cadiz was founded in 1803 a ...

on April 30, 1914. He studied at North High School in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

and became a good runner there, guided by his older brother Rupert. After graduating from high school Beetham attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, where he was coached by Larry Snyder; his teammates included

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 ...

and

Dave Albritton David Donald Albritton (April 13, 1913 – May 14, 1994) was an American athlete, teacher, coach, and state legislator. He had a long athletic career that spanned three decades and numerous titles and was one of the first high jumpers to use t ...

. He was a sit-and-kick runner whose usual approach was to wait in the pack and outsprint his opponents at the end. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

at Ohio State, Beetham won the 1935

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship in the 880-yard (804.7 m) run. He also won the 880 yards in a dual meet against the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

on June 15, 1935; his winning time, 1:52.0, was the fastest in the world that year. Beetham entered the 1935 NCAA championships as the favorite, but dropped out early on the second lap. In 1936 Beetham defended his Big Ten half-mile title in a meeting record 1:52.4 and won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

800-meter championship in 1:53.0. At the national outdoor championships of the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) a week before the Olympic Trials Beetham won a close race against John Woodruff; his winning time, 1:50.3, broke

Ben Eastman Benjamin Bangs Eastman (July 19, 1911 – October 6, 2002), alias "Blazin' Ben", was an American middle distance runner. He was born in Burlingame, California, and graduated from Stanford University in 1933. He competed for the United ...

's meeting record by one-tenth of a second. The 1936 United States Olympic Trials were held at

Randall's Island Stadium Downing Stadium, previously known as Triborough Stadium and Randall's Island Stadium, was a 22,000-seat stadium in New York City. It was renamed Downing Stadium in 1955 after John J. Downing, a director at the New York City Department of Parks a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; Beetham entered the 800 meters as a leading favorite. He qualified for the Trials final by placing fourth in his heat. In the final, Beetham stayed in the middle of the pack for the first lap; as he started his kick early on the second lap, he was spiked by Marmaduke Hobbs and fell, losing his chances to make the Olympic team. He did not finish the race, which was won by Woodruff; his appeal for a solo time-trial re-run was turned down.{{rp, 81 In 1937, his final year at Ohio State, Beetham repeated as Big Ten half-mile champion both indoors and outdoors; his winning time in the outdoor meet, 1:52.2, broke his own meeting record from the previous year. He placed third at the 1937 NCAA championships as Woodruff won in a fast race; Beetham's time, 1:50.8 for 880 yards, was his lifetime best.

Later life

Beetham continued running after graduating from Ohio State. He placed fifth in the AAU 800 meters in 1937 and third in 1938, but regained the championship in 1939; his winning time was 1:51.7. He also won in 1940 (1:51.1) and 1941 (1:50.2), becoming a four-time national outdoor champion; in addition, he won the 600 meters at the 1939 AAU indoor championships.{{cite web , url=http://www.usatf.org/statistics/USA-Champions/USAIndoorTF/men/500m.aspx , title=USA Indoor Track & Field Champions: Men's 500 m , publisher=

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

, accessdate=November 9, 2015 In August 1939 he anchored an American

4 × 800 metres relay The 4 × 800 metres relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 800 metres or 2 laps on a standard 400 metre track. The IAAF ratifies world records in the event and it became a world championship ev ...

team to an unofficial

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of 7:35.2 in a race against the French team in Paris.{{cite web , url=http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf , title=IAAF World Records Progression , edition=2015 , author1=Hymans, Richard , author2=Matrahazi, Imre , publisher=

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

, format=PDF , accessdate=October 20, 2015{{rp, 146 Beetham lost another opportunity to qualify for the Olympics when the 1940 Summer Games were cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

after the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...

, but continued running; in 1945 he won the 880 yards at the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...

and was awarded the Wanamaker Trophy as the outstanding performer of the meet. After the war Beetham took up

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

; he was assistant coach of the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

track team from 1946 to 1966. He was inducted in the Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame in 1981. Beetham died on January 28, 1997.{{cite web , url=https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/50242/ARV-BOT-Min-19970502.pdf?sequence=1 , title=The Ohio State University; Official Proceedings of the One Thousand Three Hundred and Thirty First Meeting of the Board of Trustees , accessdate=November 9, 2015 , date=May 2, 1997 , page=31

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References

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Early life and collegiate career

Later life

Notes

References

Further reading