Harvey Edward Glance (born March 28, 1957) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sprint runner. He won gold medal in 4 × 100 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 ...

at the 1976 Olympics, 1987 World Championships, and 1979 and 1987 Pan American Games.

Track and field career

Glance equaled the then 100 m

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 ...

of 9.9 twice in 1976: first on April 3 in

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

and then a month later in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counti ...

. As an

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest ...

student, Glance won the

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 ...

100 m championships in 1976 and 1977 and 200 m championships in 1976. In 1976, he also recorded the automatic timings of 10.12 s and 10.11 s that were world junior records for 100 m.Junior athletes are those athletes who are 18 or 19 years of age on December 31 of the year of competition.Automatic timings only were official from January 1, 1977. Glance finished first in the 100 m at the 1976 USA Olympic Trials.R Hymans (2008
The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field
USA Track & Field @ 28:15 At the

1976 Montreal Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

, Glance was a disappointing fourth in 100 m, as the United States failed to win a medal in the event. He then ran the opening leg in the gold medal winning American 4 × 100 m relay team. At the 1979

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

, Glance was second in 100 m and won the gold medal as a member of American 4 × 100 m relay team. He was also second in 4 × 100 m relay at the 1979 Athletics World Cup. Glance was also in line to replace James Sanford in the individual 100 m race if Sanford had not recovered in time from a muscle injury. Glance again qualified for the team for the Olympic team for the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, finishing second in the 100 m. However, due to the boycott, he did not compete at the Olympics but competed in the

Liberty Bell Classic The Liberty Bell Classic was a track and field athletics event organized by the Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 1980. ...

( Olympic Boycott Games) instead, winning silver in the 100 m and gold in the relay. He was a recipient of one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

s created especially for the spurned athletes. He also won the gold medal at the 1985 Athletics World Cup,

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the America ...

and 1987 World Championships as a member of the American 4 × 100 m relay teams.

Track coach career

He worked first as assistant coach at Auburn University (1990–91) and then became their head coach.Harvey Glance
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame In 1997, he became head track and field coach at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...

. While there, he established the 'Crimson Tide' as one of the USA's best college teams, and was able to attract many top athletes to the university including

Kirani James Kirani James (born 1 September 1992) is a Grenadian professional sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. He won the 400 m at the World Championships in 2011 and the 2012 London Olympics. In the 400 metres James also won the sil ...

(World 400 m champion in 2011 and Olympic 400 m champion in 2012).Tony Tsoukalas (April 19, 2011
Coach crosses finish line
''The Crimson White'', Tuscaloosa Alabama. At the national level, Glance assumed the following roles: * 1994 – World Junior Team in Lisbon, Portugal; * 1997 – World University Games in Sicily, Italy; * 1999 – Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada; * 2003 – assistant coach for Team USA at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, France; * 2006 – World junior Team in Beijing, China; * 2008 – assistant coach for Team USA at the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

; * 2009 – men's head coach for Team USA at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany. In recognition of his achievements, in 1996 he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and, most notably, he received in 2008 the

of Freedom. In April 2011, Glance announced he was to retire from his role at Alabama at the end of the season. Since retiring, Glance has continued to work as the personal coach of Kirani James, assisting in his rise to become Olympic champion.

Personal life

Glance was born in

Phenix City, Alabama Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 38,817. Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee R ...

, the son of Mr and Mrs Wheller Glance.Mel Pulliam (May 13, 1978
"Harvey Glance: the name means speed in track"
''Gadsden Times''. and was educated at Central High School in Phenix City. There he was mentored in track by his high school drivers’ education teacher, Joe Henderson, who had recognised Glance's special talent. After high school, he earned a degree in Health & Human Performance at Auburn University. Glance always recognized his potential as a coach and volunteered to work as one in Arizona whilst still an athlete. Always aware of the importance of public relations and civic responsibility, Glance was a regular visitor as a student to a veterans hospital and was selected as one of five student-athletes from the 1976 Olympics team to be invited to an NCAA Honors Luncheon with the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. His coach, the well-renowned

Mel Rosen Melvin "Mel" Rosen (March 24, 1928 – March 25, 2018) was an American track coach. He was head coach of the Auburn University Tigers track team for 28 years, from 1963 to 1991, during which time the team won four consecutive Southeastern Confere ...

, was proud to state "Harvey's what I call world-class – as an athlete and as a man."

Rankings

Glance was ranked among the best in the US and the world in both the 100 and 200 m sprint events over the incredible spread of 12 seasons from 1976 to 1987, 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. The magazine provides coverage of athletics in the United States from the high ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

*
T&FN Interview: Harvey Glance
Jon Henderschott, Track and Field News, June 1976. {{DEFAULTSORT:Glance, Harvey 1957 births American male sprinters African-American male track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Auburn Tigers track and field coaches Auburn Tigers men's track and field athletes Living people Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Sportspeople from Columbus, Georgia Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) People from Phenix City, Alabama World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Congressional Gold Medal recipients Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Track and field athletes from Alabama Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Alabama Crimson Tide track and field coaches Universiade bronze medalists for the United States World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople