Reginald Jones (born December 30, 1953) was an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. He is best known for recording a time in 1975 that equalled the then

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 ...

in the

100 meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

Progression of IAAF World Records 2011 Edition, Editor Imre Matrahazi, IAAF Athletics, p 28. and being a member of teams that in 1976 equalled the world records for the 4x220 y and 4 × 200 m relays.Progression of IAAF World Records 2011 Edition, Editor Imre Matrahazi, IAAF Athletics, p 137.

Track career

Jones ran for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

track team. During his time there he was

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

champion in the 100 yards event in 1974 and the 220 yards event in 1975, helping the team to an NCAA championship. In addition, in 1974 he was voted the most valuable performer. Later in 1974, Jones ran for the US in the USA vs USSR track meet and won the 200m m beating the then Olympic Champion

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, ...

who was running for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and beat his more famous compatriot, Steve Williams to victory in the 100 m. On July 26, 1975, running in Boston, Jones won the 100 m event recording a time of 9.9 that equalled the then world record. The time was never forwarded for ratification because all the timings at the meeting were considered suspect. Early in 1976, Jones ran the anchor legs of University of Tennessee team that equalled the world records for the 4x220 y and 4 × 200 m events. The former occurred on April 10 in Knoxville were the team ran 1.21.7 for 4x220 y; the latter occurred on April 24 in Philadelphia where the team ran 1.21.5 for the 4 × 200 m at the Penn Relays. In 1976, Jones attempted to qualify for the Olympic Games but the reoccurrence of an old football injury meant he could only finish 7th in 100 m final and never got out of his semi in the 200 m. This injury was to prematurely end his track career.

Accolades and awards

Jones has been inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame. In 1998, Jones was inducted into the Penn Relay Hall of Fame for his exploits in 1976, and in 2006 the 1976 University of Tennessee world-record breaking team he was a member of was also inducted.

Personal life

A native of Saginaw,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, Jones is reported to have worked as a teacher in Memphis,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

after college.

Track and field rankings

Jones was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 100 yard/100 metre and 200 yard/200 metre sprint events in the period 1974–76, 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 ...

''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Reginald 1953 births American male sprinters World record setters in athletics (track and field) Living people