Millard Frank Hampton Jr. (born July 8, 1956) is an American former
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 ...
, winner of gold medal in 4 × 100 m
relay
A relay
Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts
An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off
A relay is an electrically operated switch ...
and the individual silver medal in the
200 meters
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 ...
at the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
.
Born in
Fresno, California
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
, Millard Hampton was an
AAU champion in 200 m in 1976. His father, Millard Hampton Sr. was a top sprinter in his own right, placing as high as second in the
CIF California State Meet 220 yards in 1952.
Millard Hampton attended
Silver Creek High School in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, where he was coached by former
San Jose State
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
great
Bobby Poynter, graduating in 1974 and continues to hold the school record in the
100 m
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
at 10.4 sec. and the
200 m
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 ...
record at 20.8 sec. While at Silver Creek, in 1974 he won the
CIF California State Meet title that had eluded his father.
Next Hampton went to
San Jose City College
San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. Founded in 1921, SJCC is located in the West San Jose neighborhood of Fruitdale.
History
The college was founded in 1921, opening its doors to students in Sep ...
(SJCC) where he was coached by Bobby Poynter and
Bert Bonanno
Bert Salvatore Bonanno is a retired American track and field coach and sports administrator who has produced numerous Olympic champions and world-record holders.
Biography
Bonanno began his coaching career in the 1950s at San Jose State Colleg ...
. While at SJCC, Hampton won the 1976 Olympic Trials and at the
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
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 ...
, Hampton won silver medal in the
200 meters
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 ...
and ran the third leg in the gold medal winning American
4 x 100 metres relay
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
team.
Hampton continued his education 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 ...
and was considered a favorite for another Olympic team before the
1980 Summer Olympics boycott
The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...
.
Another Silver Creek graduate,
Andre Phillips
André Lamar Phillips (born September 5, 1959) is a retired American track and field athlete who is best known for winning the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games.
Phillips spent most of his career in the shadow of his idol, ...
won the gold medal in the
400 metres hurdles
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...
at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
, making for a rare instance when two
Olympic Gold medalists have come from the same high school. The high school website claims eight schools. The school has honored both by hosting the "Hampton Phillips Classic" named in their honor.
Hampton Phillips
He currently resides in Elk Grove, CA
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Millard
1956 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Fresno, California
American male sprinters
UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes
Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field
Sportspeople from Elk Grove, California
Track and field athletes from San Jose, California
Junior college men's track and field athletes in the United States
Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics