Clifford Frederick Bourland (January 1, 1921 – February 1, 2018)LA84 Foundation: An Olympian's Oral History - Clifford Bourland
was an American athlete who won a gold medal in the

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. Born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, of a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

mother and an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

father, Bourland ran in a competition for the first time in 1932. Graduating from Venice High School in Los Angeles, Bourland enrolled to

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and was coached by the famous

Dean Cromwell Dean Bartlett Cromwell (September 20, 1879 – August 3, 1962), nicknamed "Maker of Champions", was an American athletic coach in multiple sports, principally at the University of Southern California (USC). He was the head coach of the USC track ...

. Bourland won the AAU championships in 400 m and 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 ...

championships in 440 yd in 1942 and 1943. During the

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 opposing ...

, Bourland served in the Navy as a captain of a

landing craft tank The Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) (or Tank Landing Craft TLC) was an amphibious assault craft for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of ver ...

. At the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Olympics, Bourland was fifth in 200 m and won the gold medal as a member of American 4 × 400 m relay team, running the second leg in 47.3 seconds. After the Olympics, Bourland retired from sports. After a failed attempt to start a career in

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

, he was hired by an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

company. In 1984 he was a part owner of the mortgage banking firm called Norris, Biggs and Simpson.

Competition record

References

External links

* * * 1921 births 2018 deaths American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Businesspeople from Los Angeles USC Trojans men's track and field athletes University of Southern California alumni Track and field athletes from Los Angeles Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Deaths from pneumonia in California Venice High School (Los Angeles) alumni 20th-century American businesspeople United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub