Harold Marion Osborn

D.O. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licens ...

(April 13, 1899 – April 5, 1975) was an American

track athlete 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 event ...

. He won a gold medal in

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 bet ...

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

in 1924 and was the first athlete to win a gold medal in both the

and an individual event.

Life

After high school, Osborn attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

, from 1919 through 1922, majoring in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. Both of Osborns parents were of entirely English ancestry. All of Osborn's ancestors came to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and all of them emigrated to the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

before the year 1700.Samuel Combest and His Descendants by Harriet Jane Barnes Smith - University of Wisconsin: Madison - 1990 Osborn was descended from

Richard Sears Richard Sears may refer to: * Richard Warren Sears (1863–1914), founder of Sears, Roebuck and Co. * Richard Sears (pilgrim) (1595–1676), early settler of Yarmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts *Richard Sears (tennis) Richard Dudley Sears (Octobe ...

, John Underhill,

Myles Standish Myles Standish (c. 1584 – October 3, 1656) was an English military officer and colonizer. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on ...

, George Soule and

John Woodbridge John Woodbridge VI (1613–1696) was an English nonconformist, who emigrated to New England. He had positions on both sides of the Atlantic, until 1663, when he settled permanently in New England. Life John Woodbridge VI was born at Stanton, ne ...

. Osborn won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

s and set Olympic records in both the

and the

at the 1924 Olympics. His 6'6" high jump remained the Olympic record for 12 years, while his decathlon score of 7,710.775 points also set a new world record, and resulted in worldwide press coverage calling him the "world's greatest athlete." On May 27, 1924, Osborn's 6' 8-¼" high jump set a world record at an AAU meet held at the University of Illinois campus in Urbana. Osborn competed in the Olympics again in 1928. In the high jump, four competitors tied for second place. The initial tying jumps for second place were 6' 3- ½", just an inch behind gold medalist, Bob King, who jumped 6' 4½".

Titles and records

Osborn won 17 national titles and set six world records during his career. He held world indoor records in the standing hop, step, and jump; the 60-yard high hurdles; and the running high jump. His holds the world record in the standing high jump of 5' 5¾" which he achieved at the age of 37. Osborn was enshrined as a charter member of the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...

in 1974.

High jumping styles

He modified the Western roll technique by developing an efficient side‑to‑the‑bar clearance, which resulted in more height and consistency.

References

Sources

* USA Track and Field website http://www.usatf.org/ * The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, 1996 Edition, Sports Illustrated. * Olympic Trials Website http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/OlympicTrialsStats2004.pdf * The Olympics Fact Book http://www.Rediff.com/ * Article from July 18, 1996 – ''The Hillsboro Journal,'' Hillsboro, Illinois * Obituary – ''Chicago Tribune,'' Thursday, April 10, 1975 * Reminiscences of Margaret Bordner Osborn to Marianna Trekell and family members * Letters written by Harold Osborn to Margaret Bordner in 1925 (copies in possession of author; original letters in possession of Osborn's daughters). * Trekell, Marianna, and White, Cyril M., unpublished manuscript titled "Harold M. Osborn at the Games of the VIII Olympiad Paris, 1925," written in the 1980s. Trekell was a faculty member in the Dept. of Physical Education at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. White was a sociologist at University College, Dublin, Ireland, with an academic interest in the Sociology of Sport. * Article from the ''Illinois Alumni News,'' September 1974, titled "Dublin Remembers Harold Osborn '22". * Hansen, Willard, ''Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette,'' Urbana, Illinois, April 25, 1975. * Sports News, ''Christian Science Monitor,'' Boston, May 9, 1944, "Osborn Still Clears 6 Feet Long After Leaving College." * Murray, Feg, "Crossing the Bar," newspaper clipping dated February 16, 1926, University of Illinois Archives—Harold M. Osborn file. Released through

Metropolitan Newspaper Service Metropolitan Newspaper Service (MNS) was a syndication service based in New York City that operated from 1919 to 1932. At first the syndication service of '' Metropolitan Magazine'', it soon became affiliated with the Bell Syndicate, and then was a ...

. * Letter written by Osborn to Volker Kluge, January 31, 1969, in possession of Osborn's niece, Emily Osborn.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, Harold 1899 births 1975 deaths People from Montgomery County, Illinois Track and field athletes from Illinois American male decathletes American male high jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field World record setters in athletics (track and field) American osteopathic physicians Illinois Fighting Illini men's track and field athletes Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics People from Lewistown, Illinois Olympic decathletes Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine alumni