John Alton Claude Keller (October 23, 1911 – June 3, 1978) was an American

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

who set

world records 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 both 120

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

/ 110 meter and 220 yard events. He won the 110 m hurdles at the 1932 United States Olympic Trials, but narrowly missed out on a medal at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, placing a close fourth.

Hurdling career

Jack Keller studied at

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 ...

and succeeded sprinter George Simpson as 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 ...

' leading

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

star. 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 ...

in 1931, he won the 220 yard hurdles in 23.5 at the

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 ...

conference meet; he was favored in the 120 yard hurdles as well, but was narrowly defeated by

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

's Lee Sentman in a world-record-equaling 14.4. He then led Ohio State to a second-place finish in the

NCAA Championships 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 ...

, winning both the 120 yard hurdles (14.6) and the 220 yard hurdles (23.8) in difficult conditions and tying for highest points scorer of the meet. Keller continued to improve in 1932 and won that year's Big Ten 120-yard title in a world-record-breaking 14.0, defeating

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

's new star

George Saling George J. Saling (July 27, 1909 – April 15, 1933) was an American track and field athlete, winner of 110 m hurdles at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Saling was born in Memphis, Missouri, but the family moved to Corydon, Iowa when George was thr ...

. However, due to

wind assistance In track and field, wind assistance is the benefit that an athlete receives during a race or event as registered by a wind gauge. Wind is one of many forms of weather that can affect sport. Due to a tailwind helping to enhance the speed of the at ...

this time could not be ratified as a record. Keller and Saling then split the two races at the

on June 11, both running under the respective world records: Saling won the 120 yard hurdles in 14.1 as Keller placed third, while Keller defended his title in the longer race, beating Saling by a step in 22.7 to break Charles Brookins's world record of 23.0. However, neither time was ratified as a world record. At the Olympic Trials on July 16 Keller again came out on top in the 110 meter hurdles, running 14.4 into a headwind to defeat Saling and the previous year's national champion,

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 ...

. His winning time equaled the world record for the metric hurdles; automatically timed as 14.53, it was the first hurdling record to have been automatically timed. The three Americans were clear favorites for the

and were expected to sweep the medals. At the

Los Angeles 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' ...

Keller easily advanced from the first two rounds, winning his heat in 14.9 and the first semi-final in 14.5, an

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

. However, that record only lasted for a few minutes, as the other semi-final was won by Saling in 14.4. In the final Keller led for the first four hurdles, but hit the fifth hurdle and was caught first by Beard and then the eventual winner, Saling. He was originally thought to have come in third and was presented with the Bronze Medal; however, after review of the Kirby Two-Eyed Camera films, officials determined that

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Don Finlay Group Captain Donald Osborne Finlay, DFC, AFC (27 May 1909 – 18 April 1970) was a British athlete and Royal Air Force officer. Athletics career A member of Milocarian Athletic Club and Surrey Athletics Club (based in Kingston upon Thames), ...

was the bronze medalist and they asked Keller to give the medal to Finlay. Saling died in a car accident in April 1933, leaving Keller on top. After watching Keller win the 120 yard hurdles at the 1933

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (also Penn Relays Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012, there were ...

in 14.3, 1920

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

and former world record holder

Earl Thomson Earl John "Tommy" Thomson (February 15, 1895 – May 19, 1971) was a Canadian athlete, a specialist in the high hurdles. In 1920 he became the first Olympic gold medalist in 110 m hurdles from outside the United States. Biography Born in Birch ...

called him the "world's greatest hurdler", saying Keller was easily better than he had been. Keller won that year's Big Ten championships in 14.1 (a world record) and 23.5. However, at the

he fell in his heat in the 120 yard hurdles and failed to qualify for the final; the knee gashes he suffered in that fall spoiled his performance in the 220 yard hurdles as well. Keller retired from hurdling after the 1933 season, and went on to become the managing editor of the Columbus, Ohio ''Citizen Journal''. He attempted a brief comeback in 1936.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Jack 1911 births 1978 deaths American male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Ohio State Buckeyes men's track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States