James Edwin "Ted" Meredith (November 14, 1891 – November 2, 1957) was an American

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 two gold medals at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. Meredith made the 1912

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

team shortly after his graduation from

Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades Williamson College of the Trades (formerly Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades) is a private men's junior vocational college in Middletown Township, near Media, Pennsylvania. The school was founded on December 1, 1888, by Philadelphia m ...

in 1911, whilst he was a student at

Mercersburg Academy Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...

under Scots-American coach

Jimmy Curran James Michael Curran (January 7, 1880 – February 7, 1963) was an athletics coach, best known for training five Olympic gold medallists. From 1900-1902 he fought with the Highland Light Infantry in the Second Boer War, serving much of that time u ...

. In

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, he won a gold medal in the 800 m run with a

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 ...

1:51.9. He ran on to the 880 yard mark and also set a world record for that distance, with a 1:52.5. He won another gold medal on the 4 × 400 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 ...

team, also taking fourth in the 400 metres competition.

now has the largest repository of Olympic great Meredith memorabilia in existence thanks to Jack Lemon, author of the book ''Immortal of the Cinder Path – The Saga of James 'Ted' Meredith'' who donated his entire collection of Meredith memorabilia recently. After Stockholm, Meredith entered the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He was 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 ...

440 yards champion from 1914 to 1916 and the 880 yard champion in 1914 and 1915. He also won the AAU 440 yard title in 1914 and 1915. In 1916, he set a world record in the 440 yards of 47.4, which wasn't broken until 1928. At the same year he lowered his own world 880 yard record to 1:52.2. In April 1915 he ran the last lap for the University of Pennsylvania team that broke the world mile relay record. Requiring a time of 48 3/5 seconds he proceeded to run 48 2/5. Also part of the quartet was

Donald Lippincott Donald Fithian Lippincott (November 16, 1893 – January 9, 1963) was an American athlete who competed in the sprint events. He competed for the United States in the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, Sweden where he finished third in the ...

. Meredith retired from competition in 1917 and served in the army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He made a comeback for the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

, where he was eliminated in the semifinal of the 400 metres competition and ran on the relay team that finished fourth in the 4 × 400 m relay event. After the second retiring from competition, he became a real estate broker, but retained an active interest in athletics. In 1924 he attended the

Olympic Games 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 ...

in Paris as a reporter, working for the Christy Walsh Syndicate. In 1928 he was hired as an assistant coach at the

, under

Lawson Robertson Lawson N. Robertson (September 23, 1883 – January 22, 1951) was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a member of and trainer for the Irish American Athletic Club, and competed for the U.S. Olympic T ...

. In 1936 he attended the

in Berlin as the coach of the

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

team. During 1937 and 1938 he trained the Cuban team for the

Central American Games The Central American Games ( es, Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos) are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial (every 4 years), typically in the first year after Summer Olympics. The Games are open for member federation ...

. Meredith's funeral service was held in

Haddonfield :''Not the fictional Illinois town from the Halloween film series.'' Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593,

, New Jersey. Attendees were a roll call of early 20th century American and Pennsylvanian sports, including

Earl Eby Earl William Eby (November 18, 1894 – December 14, 1970) was an American sprinter who won a silver medal in the 800 m at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Earlier at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games he won the 400 m event and placed second in the 800 m to ...

, Sherman Landers, Wallace McCurdy, Larry Brown, Joe Lockwood, Robert Bolger, Joe Berry, Allie Miller, Ed Harter, and

Paul Costello Paul Vincent Costello (December 27, 1894 – April 17, 1986) was an American triple Olympic Gold Medal winner in rowing. He was the first rower to win a gold medal in the same event, double sculls, at three consecutive Olympics. He also won num ...

.Former Coach, Ex-Stars Attend Meredith Rites, ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', November 8, 1957

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Ted 1891 births 1957 deaths People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania American people of Welsh descent American male sprinters American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field World record setters in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Camden, New Jersey Penn Quakers men's track and field athletes Mercersburg Academy alumni United States Army personnel of World War I Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic coaches