John Walton Smith (born August 5, 1950) is a former

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 An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, who competed in the sprints events during his career. He is best known for winning the 400 m event at the 1971 Pan American Games. He remains the

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 ...

holder for the 440 yard dash at 44.5 seconds. He set the record while winning the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

on June 26, 1971 while running for the

Southern California 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 ...

. The record has stood since then due to metrification in the sport. Contemporary athletes rarely run or are timed officially for the extra 2.34 meters to equal 440 yards. Smith came as a favorite to the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, but injured a hamstring in the 400 m final and failed to finish the race.John Smith
. sports-reference.com After retiring from competition, he became a sprint coach, training Maurice Greene and Ato Boldon amongst others. At the time, his team called HSI (standing for Hudson Smith International) was the top sprint team in the world.John Smith
UCLA He coached

Carmelita Jeter Carmelita Jeter ( , born November 24, 1979) is a retired American sprinter, who competed in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. For over a decade, between 2009 and 2021, Jeter held the title as "Fastest woman alive" after running a 100 m personal be ...

, who held the second fastest 100 m time after

Florence Griffith-Joyner Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete. She set world records in 1988 for the 100 m and 200 m. During the late ...

. He also coaches/coached

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

sprinter

Jaysuma Saidy Ndure Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (born 1 January 1984) is a Gambian- Norwegian sprinter. He is of Serer heritage of the noble Ndure family. In 2002, he went to Oslo, aged 18 and settled with his father who has lived in Norway since the 1970s. Having change ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n sprinter

Blessing Okagbare Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri (born 9 October 1988) is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in Long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medalist in the long jump, and a world medalist in th ...

, Commonwealth Games Champion, and

English Gardner English Gardner (born April 22, 1992) is an American track and field sprinter who specializes in the 100-meter dash. Her personal best of 10.74 seconds, set in 2016, ranks her in the top ten all-time for the distance. Career She was born in Ph ...

, NCAA Champion at Oregon and US Outdoor Champion. Smith ran for Fremont High School in Los Angeles, finishing fifth in the 440 at the CIF California State Meet two years in a row, 1967-8. He also won the City Championships in the long jump. In 1967, he finished one place behind

Wayne Collett Wayne Curtis Collett (October 20, 1949 – March 17, 2010) was an African-American Olympic sprinter. Collett won a silver medal in the 400 m at the 1972 Summer Olympics. During the medal ceremony Collett and winner Vincent Matthews talked to eac ...

from Gardena High School, one year his senior. He would next join Collett at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, forming a powerhouse team. They won the NCAA 4x440/400 relay championships four years in a row, 1969-72. Smith won the individual 440 in 1971 and 400 in 1972 and both years UCLA won the overall team championship. Both Collett and Smith qualified for the 1972 Olympic team in the 400. Following his athletic career, he coached UCLA for 17 years before branching off to the HSI team.

Athletes coached by John Smith

* Steve Lewis 3 Olympic gold medals, 1 silver, World Junior Record 400 meters since 1988 *

Marie-José Pérec Marie-José Pérec (born 9 May 1968) is a retired French track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 and 400 metres and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Athletics career Pérec won the 1991 World Championships 400 metres title ...

3 Olympic gold medals, 2 World Championship gold medals * Kevin Young Olympic gold medal, 1 World Championship gold medal, world record 400 meters hurdles since 1992 *

Danny Everett Danny Everett (born November 1, 1966) is an American former track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He won bronze medals in the 400m at the 1988 Olympic Games and at the 1991 World Championship ...

Olympic gold and bronze medals * Michael Marsh 2 Olympic gold medals, 1 silver, 1 World Championship gold medal *

Quincy Watts Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is an American former athlete, and two time gold medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Career Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California (USC) where he excelled ...

2 Olympic gold medals, 2 World Championship medals, 1 gold * Mike Powell 2 Olympic silver medals, 2 World Championship gold medals, world record in the long jump since 1991 * Maurice Greene 4 Olympic medals, 2 gold, 5 World Championship gold medals, World record 100 metres *

Inger Miller Inger Miller (born June 12, 1972) is a retired American track and field sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 m. She is the daughter of Lennox Miller, an Olympic champion runner from Jamaica. She attended John Muir High School in P ...

1 Olympic gold medal, 5 World Championship medals, 3 gold but 1 disqualified due to Marion Jones * David Neville 2 Olympic medals, 1 gold * Lawrence Johnson Olympic silver medal *

Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily ( ar, هادي صوعان الصميلي, born December 30, 1976, in Ta'if) is a Saudi Arabian athlete. He won the first Saudi silver medal in the Olympics in the 400 metres hurdles, clocking a personal best time of 47.53 ...

Olympic silver medal * Ato Boldon 4 Olympic medals, 4 World Championship medals, 1 gold *

Dalilah Muhammad Dalilah Muhammad (born February 7, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2016 Rio Olympics champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, becoming at the latter the second-fastest ...

Olympic Gold Medal, 2 World Championship Silver Medals *

Jon Drummond Jonathan A. Drummond (born September 9, 1968) is an American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jon Drummond is known for being among the world's best starte ...

2 Olympic medals, 1 gold, 2 World Championship gold medals * Allen Johnson Olympic gold medal, 5 World Championship medals, 4 gold *

1 Olympic Gold Medal, 2 World Championship Silver Medals * Dawn Harper 2 Olympic medals, 1 gold, 2 World Championship Medals * Richard Thompson 3 Olympic medals, 1 World Championship medal *

Emmanuel Callender Emmanuel Earl Callender (sometimes Callander; born 10 May 1984 in Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago) is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago. Callender represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2008 Sum ...

2 Olympic medals, 1 World Championship medal * Tasha Danvers 1 Olympic medal *

Kristi Castlin Kristi Castlin (born July 7, 1988) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100 metres hurdles. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics. Her personal best for the event is 12.50 seconds, set on July 8, 2016 during the ...

1 Olympic Bronze Medal *

Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...

trained with HSI for a short period of time. 2 Olympic medals, 1 gold, 2 World Championship gold medals * Torri Edwards 1 Olympic medal disqualified due to

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track and field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 200 ...

, 4 World Championship medals, 2 gold *

Jason Richardson Jason Anthoney Richardson (born January 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Richardson was taken by the Golden State Warriors as the fifth overall pic ...

Olympic silver medal, World Championship gold medal *

Christian Coleman Christian Coleman (born March 6, 1996) is an American professional track and field Sprint (running), sprinter who competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the former world champion in the 100 meters. He was a double gold medallist at th ...

2 World Championship Silver Medals, World Indoor Championship Gold Medal, World Indoor Record Holder for the 60 meter dash * Regina Jacobs 2 World Championship silver medals *

Anju Bobby George Anju Bobby George (born 19 April 1977) is a retired Indian athlete. Anju Bobby George made history when she won the bronze medal in long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris. With this achievement, she became the first In ...

first World Championship medal for India *

Jehue Gordon Jehue Gordon (born 15 December 1991) is a Trinidadian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. He turned professional on 24 June 2010, and signed a deal with Adidas in August 2010. Formerly a pupil of Belmont Boys' Secon ...

1 World Championship Gold Medal * Khalifa St. Fort 1 World Championship Bronze Medal *

Dezerea Bryant Dezerea Bryant (born April 27, 1993) is an American sprinter competing in the 100 metres and 200 m. She was the 200 m national champion in 2019. At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, she placed 5th in the 200 m and earned a bronze ...

1 World Championship Silver Medal * Michael Norman 2 World Junior Championship Gold Medals, World Indoor 400m Record Holder * Leonard Scott World Indoor Championship Gold Medal *

Martial Mbandjock Martial Mbandjock (born 14 October 1985 in Roubaix) is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres., beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 26, 2008 His personal best time is 10.06 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Albi. He won the bronze medal in the ...

* Pilar McShine *

* Mohammed Shaween *

Kenneth Ferguson Kenneth Ferguson (born March 22, 1984) is an American sprinter and hurdler who specializes in the 400 metres, 110 and 400 metre hurdles. He won three gold medals at the 2003 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, in the 110 metre and 400 ...

* Jason Pyrah

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John 1950 births Living people American male sprinters Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics University of California, Los Angeles alumni American track and field coaches Track and field athletes from Los Angeles Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Track and field people from California Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games