Horatio May Fitch (December 16, 1900

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

– May 4, 1985 Estes Park, Colorado) was 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 ...

athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. He competed for the United States in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

held in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in the 400 metres where he won the silver medal, an event memorialized by the 1982 hit movie '' Chariots of Fire''. The race winner was

Eric Liddell Eric Henry Liddell (; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player and Christian missionary. Born in Qing China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended boarding school near London, spending time when p ...

, who had passed up the 100-metre dash, his specialty, because it was being held on Sunday. After graduating with a degree in engineering, Fitch went to work for a company building

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's new Union Station. He found time, however, to compete for the Chicago Athletic Association. After winning the 1923 AAU 440-yard national championship with a time of 50.0 seconds, he was invited to participate in the Olympic tryouts at

Harvard 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 ...

the month before the Paris Games. He finished behind Taylor, a

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

graduate, who set a new world record of 48.1 in the semifinals and was one of nine quartermilers the U.S. took to Paris.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitch, Horatio 1900 births 1985 deaths Track and field athletes from Chicago American male sprinters University of Illinois alumni Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics