Raymond James Barbuti (June 12, 1905 – July 8, 1988) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and sprint runner who won two gold medals at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Barbuti traveled to Amsterdam to initially only compete for the 400meter sprint however the US medal position was meek and then US Olympic committee president, Major General Douglas MacArthur insisted after Barbuti won the 400meter gold that he run in the 4 X 4 meter relay the next day. Barbuti was interrupted by MacArthur during his celebratory evening to start preparing to run the anchor for the event the next day. Barbuti initially, vehemently refused, claiming he would not displace a fellow US runner in search for further medals. However MacArthur was relentless and finally prevailed and history commenced with the team winning the gold. In 1924 while playing fullback at Lawrence, Long Island, New York high school, Barbuti set a New York state record, which still stands (2013), scoring eight touchdowns in one game. He attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, where he won the

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...

championship in the 400 m sprint in 1928 in a time of 48.8 seconds. The same year he won the AAU Championship in the 400 m dash in a time of 51.4. He played fullback on the Syracuse football teams of 1926, 1927, and 1928 and was the captain of both the football and athletics teams. His trainer, Peter Poole, very seldom let him run his two preferred distances, the 200 yd and the 400 yd, in the same competition, so Barbuti chose the 400 m and 4 × 400 m at the 1928 Summer Olympics and won both, setting a world record in the relay at 3:14.2. Next week he set another world record, at 3:13.4 in the 4×440 yd relay in London in a match against Great Britain. During World War II Barbuti served with the US Air Force in the 83rd Bombardment Squadron which was part of the 12th Bombardment Group also known as the Earthquakers. He was awarded the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

and the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. While stationed in Gambut, Libya, Barbuti helped to organize the Western Desert Track and Field Championships. The competition was between the 12th Bombardment's track men, members of the RAF, and Australian troops. With Barbuti's talent on the track as a runner and as a coach, the men of the 12th won 1st place in 8 out of 11 events. He retired in the rank of major and became deputy director of the Civil Defense Commission for New York State and director of the New York State Office of Disaster Preparedness. In his spare time he acted as a referee in more than 500 intercollegiate football games. On December 24, 1957, Barbuti appeared as a "contestant imposter" on the game show '' To Tell the Truth''. This episode is still in existence and was most recently aired by GSN on January 20, 2009. The host was

Bud Collyer Bud Collyer (born Clayton Johnson Heermance Jr., June 18, 1908 – September 8, 1969) was an American radio actor and announcer and game show host who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars. He is best remembered for ...

and the panel consisted of

Betsy Palmer Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress, who was known as a regular supporting film and Broadway actress and television guest star, as a panelist on the game show ''I've Got a Secret'' ...

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...

Kitty Carlisle Kitty Carlisle Hart (born Catherine Conn; September 3, 1910 – April 17, 2007) was an American actress, singer, and spokeswoman for the arts. She was the leading lady of the Marx Brothers movie '' A Night at the Opera'' (1935) and was a regular ...

and

Hy Gardner Hy Gardner (December 2, 1908 – June 17, 1989) was an American entertainment reporter and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Herald Tribune'', host of ''Hy Gardner Calling'', ''The Hy Gardner Show'', and ''Celebrity Party'', and an orig ...

References

Ray Barbuti profile
at Sprintic.com * * * Black Angel History and Log Book of the Eighty-Third Bombardment Squadron - The Modern Printing Company 1905 births 1988 deaths American football fullbacks American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Syracuse Orange football players Syracuse Orange men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Brooklyn Players of American football from New York City People from Lawrence, Nassau County, New York Track and field athletes from New York City United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Recipients of the Air Medal {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub