Michael Fray (3 September 1947 – 6 November 2019) was a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n Olympic sprinter. In the 1968 Mexico Olympics, he ran second leg on the 4x100 meters Jamaican relay team (with

Lennox Miller Lennox Valencia Miller (8 October 1946 in Kingston, Jamaica – 8 November 2004 in Pasadena, California) was a champion runner and father of Inger Miller. Representing Jamaica, Miller won the silver medal in the 100 meters in the 1968 Summ ...

Clifton Forbes Clifton L. Forbes (February 18, 1946 – March 1, 2010) was an Olympic athlete, who represented Jamaica at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He won a bronze medal in the 4×400 metre relay at the 1967 Pan American Games. Later he served ...

, and schoolboy Errol Stewart) which set the world record at 38.6 seconds in the preliminary heats and then broke the record with a 38.3 seconds clocking in the semi-finals. This 38.3 clocking still stands as the world record for athletes under twenty-three years old. Fray enjoyed success with the Jamaican relay team in other competitions, including a silver medal at the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

(alongside

Pablo McNeil Pablo S. McNeil (12 September 1939 – 4 July 2011) was a Jamaican track and field sprinter and sprinting coach. He participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1968 Summer Olympics. McNeil reached the semifinal of the 100 metres in t ...

) and a gold medal at the

1966 Central American and Caribbean Games The 10th (X) Central American and Caribbean Games were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Ri ...

. He returned to the latter competition in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and was an individual bronze medallist in the 100 m. He won a bronze medal in the 4×400 metre relay at the

1967 Pan American Games The 1967 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967. Winnipeg was chosen as host of the Pan American Games on its second try. It first bid for the 1963 Games at the 1959 PASO meeting in Chicago ...

. Running from the tight confines of lane one, he placed seventh in the finals of the 1968 Olympic 200 meters won by

Tommie Smith Tommie C. Smith (born June 6, 1944) is an American former track and field, track and field athlete and former wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold me ...

who is widely known for his gloved black power salute protest on the podium along with bronze medalist

John Carlos John Wesley Carlos (born June 5, 1945) is an American former track and field athlete and professional American football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power sal ...

. Both Smith and Carlos were banned for this protest. In the 1972 Olympics in Munich, West Germany, Fray placed 5th. in the finals of the 100 meters which was won by Russian

Valeriy Borzov Valeriy Pylypovych Borzov ( uk, Валерій Пилипович Борзов; russian: Валерий Филиппович Борзов, Valeriy Filippovich Borzov; born 20 October 1949) is a former Soviet sprinter. He is a two-time Olympian, ...

. He set a U.S. National Junior College 200 meters record in 1967 while competing for Odessa Junior College and was ranked number 10 in the world in the 200 meters in 1968 by Track & Field News magazine. As a schoolboy, he placed fourth behind Miller in the 1965 100 yards finals and second behind Miller in the 1965 220 yards finals at the Jamaican High Schools Championships. Michael "Mike" Fray died alleged suicide by hanging on 6 November 2019. Jamaica will forever remember Fray for his remarkable, record-breaking achievements.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fray, Mike 1947 births 2019 suicides 2019 deaths Jamaican male sprinters Olympic athletes for Jamaica Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Jamaica Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Jamaica Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Place of birth missing Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Jamaica Competitors at the 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games Jamaican expatriates in the United States Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Suicides by hanging 20th-century Jamaican people 21st-century Jamaican people Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games