George Vincent Rhoden (born 13 December 1926) is a Jamaican retired athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1952. Rhoden was born in Kingston in December 1926. He later moved to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and was one of the successful long sprinters from Jamaica in the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with

Arthur Wint Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE (25 May 1920 – 19 October 1992) was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympi ...

and

Herb McKenley The Hon. Herbert Henry McKenley OM (10 July 1922 – 26 November 2007) was a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in six events in total, and won one gold and three silver medals. Born in Pleasant Valle ...

. He competed in 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 ...

, but did not win a medal, being eliminated in the heats of the 100 m and the semi-final of the 400 m. He was also a member of the heavily favoured Jamaican 4 × 400 m relay team, but when Wint pulled a muscle in the final, their chances at a medal were gone. On 22 August 1950 at

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna h ...

, Sweden, Rhoden set a new

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 ...

in 400 m of 45.8 s. He also won the AAU championships in 400 m from 1949 to 1951 and as a

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...

student, won the

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championships in in 1951 and in from 1950 to 1952. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. At the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

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, Rhoden was more successful. As a world record holder he was one of the pre-race favourites in the 400 m which he won in a close battle with his compatriot McKenley, who had also been second in the 1948 Olympic 400 m. As the anchor runner of the Jamaican relay team, Rhoden added a second Olympic gold, edging the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by a tenth of a second, and setting a new world record (3:03.9). Jamaica Gleaner

Competition record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoden, George 1926 births Living people Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Morgan State Bears men's track and field athletes Jamaican male sprinters World record setters in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Jamaica Olympic gold medalists for Jamaica Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica Competitors at the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics