William Corbett Robbins (August 9, 1885 – July 30, 1962) 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-develo ...

and a member of the

Irish American Athletic Club The Irish American Athletic Club was an amateur athletic organization, based in Queens, New York, at the beginning of the 20th century. Early years Established on January 30, 1898, originally as the "Greater New York Irish Athletic Association", ...

. He was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. In 1908 he was involved in a controversial race in the final of the Men's 400 metres and was later part of a team which broke the world's record for the one mile relay.

1908 Summer Olympics

Robbins advanced to the finals in the 400 metres race at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were or ...

, winning his preliminary heat with a time of 50.4 seconds and his semifinal in 49.0 seconds. In the first running of the final race, Robbins finished in front. However, teammate

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

was disqualified after being accused of obstructing

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

runner

Wyndham Halswelle Wyndham Halswelle (30 May 1882 – 31 March 1915) was a British athlete. He won the controversial 400m race at the 1908 Summer Olympics, becoming the only athlete to win an Olympic title by a walkover. Halswelle was also an infantry ...

and the race was ordered to be repeated without Carpenter. Robbins and fellow American John Taylor refused to compete in the second final in protest of Carpenter's disqualification. Halswelle ran the race alone, and was presented with the Gold medal. This race is the only case of a

walkover John_Carpenter_was_disqualified,_prompting_his_teammates_John_Taylor_(athlete).html" ;"title="John_Carpenter_(athlete).html" "title="Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres">men's 400 metres running in a walkover. Americ ...

in Olympic history. According to Robbins' 1910 trading card, he was "one of the best quarter-milers in the United States. He was... (a)

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...

student, and first came to prominence by the part he played in the 400-meter race held at London in 1908. 'Yank,' as he (was) called by his team mates, ran the first 300 yards at such a clip that it 'pulled the great Halswell's cork,' the later finishing in third place. Robbins won the Metropolitan

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

quarter-mile championship in September, 1909, and two weeks later captured the Canadian quarter-mile title, running the distance in the great time of 48 4/5 seconds."

1 Mile Relay World's Record

At the

metropolitan championships held at Travers Island in 1909, Robbins was part of the

's four-man relay team that broke the world's record for the one mile relay, with a time of 3 minutes 20 2/5 seconds. The other three men on the record breaking team were; C.S. Cassara,

James Rosenberger James Maher Rosenberger (April 6, 1887 – January 1, 1946) was an American track and field athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club. He was born in New York City and died in Brooklyn, New York. In 1909, at the Amateur Athletic ...

and Melvin Sheppard."Mile Relay Record at Travers Island." ''New York Times'', Sept. 26, 1909.

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

William Robbins' profile at Sports Reference.comWinged Fist Organization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, William 1885 births 1962 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States American male sprinters World record setters in athletics (track and field)