James Gilkes (born 21 September 1952) is a former sprinter from

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

who specialised in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Career

He was 1975 Pan American 200 metre champion, and in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

he took the silver medal in the same event. He was runner up to

Don Quarrie Donald O'Riley Quarrie CD (born 25 February 1951) is a Jamaican former track and field athlete, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s. At the 1976 Summer Olympics he was the gold medallist in the Olympic 200 meters and silver med ...

of Jamaica in the 1978 AAA's 200 metres event. At the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

in Edmonton he finished fourth in the 100 metre final, then took the silver medal in the 200 metres, finishing behind

Allan Wells Allan Wipper Wells (born 3 May 1952) is a Scottish former track and field sprinter who became the 100 metres Olympic champion at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Within a fortnight of that, he also took on and beat America's best sprinter ...

of Scotland. In 1978, Gilkes was denied a world record for the 4x200 m relay; while the

Tobias Striders The Southern California Striders (also SoCal Striders or SC Striders) is a track and field athletics club based in Los Angeles, California. From its foundation in 1955 through the 1980s it was an elite club producing numerous national and Olympi ...

team he was a member of broke the old world record with a time of 1:20.23, but this was rejected as a record because the team members were from different countries. The other members of the team were:

Guy Abrahams Guy Antonio Abrahams (born 7 March 1953) is a Panamanian athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres. He represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics finishing 5th in the 100 metres. Abrahams studied and competed for the University ...

, Panama; Michael Simmons, USA; and

, Jamaica. The team from the University of Southern California (

Joel Andrews Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to: * Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name. * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...

, James Sanford, William Mullins and

Clancy Edwards Clancy Edwards (born August 9, 1955) is a retired track and field sprinter from the United States. He was considered one of the best sprinters in the world between 1974 and 1978. He won the 200 metres at the 1977 IAAF World Cup, the most import ...

) that finished second in the same race also broke the old world record: their time of 1:20.26 was accepted as the new world record. In 1979 he took 3rd place in the "Golden sprints" in Zurich. Gilkes would have been a medal favorite in the 200 m (which Don Quarrie won) at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, but Guyana joined the African boycott over New Zealand's rugby team's tour of apartheid South Africa. He applied to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for permission to run as an individual under their flag but was denied the request. He also went to the

1980 Olympic Games The 1980 Olympics may refer to: * 1980 Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, New York, United States * 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officiall ...

where he reached the semi-finals of both the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

before he was eliminated. His personal best time for the 200 metres was 20.14 seconds, achieved in September 1978 in Ingelheim. Gilkes studied first at

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

then moved to the University of Southern California (USC). He was an important member of the track team at both colleges. As of 2012, Gilkes was still ranked in the top 10 all-time performers for the USC Trojans at 100 and 200 m, joint 8th and 4th respectively. He enjoyed success for both colleges at the NCAA (USA Collegiate) championships, including a win at 220 yards in 1974: *1974 (for Fisk) – 6th in 100 y; 1st in 220 y *1975 (for USC) – 2nd in 200 m *1976 (for USC) – 3rd in 100 m; 2nd in 200 m. Gilkes joined Fisk University when it started a student transfer program with his native country of Guyana in 1972. Gilkes remained at Fisk University until 1974 when he transferred to USC. He has stated he was not unhappy at Fisk but did not enjoy the Tennessee weather and preferred the sunnier climes of California.

Rankings

Gilkes was ranked in the top ten 100 and 200 m sprinters in the world from 1974 to 1979, according to the votes of the experts of ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

''.

USA Championships

Gilkes when in the United States was eligible at that time to compete in the USA National Track and Field Championships. He achieved the feat of finishing second in the 200 m five years running.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilkes, James 1952 births Living people Guyanese male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Guyana Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Guyana Pan American Games silver medalists for Guyana Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Guyana Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Afro-Guyanese people Fisk University alumni USC Trojans men's track and field athletes Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games

Career

Rankings

USA Championships

See also

References