SO SORRY TO HEAR OF RECENT PASSING OF FAMED OLYMPIC CHAMPION AND WORLD RECORD-BREAKER VINCENT – BUT ALWAYS JUST KNOWN AS GEORGE – RHODEN

SO SORRY TO HEAR OF THE RECENT PASSING OF THE FAMED OLYMPIC CHAMPION

AND WORLD RECORD-BREAKER VINCENT – BUT ALWAYS JUST KNOWN AS GEORGE RHODEN …

He was one of the heroes of my early days of becoming a track enthusiast.

A Jamaican at Morgan State University of Baltimore, he was

NCAA 400 champion (as one of the very earliest NCAA international champions)

  Penn Relays excellent, a major star on the indoor circuit, which filled

big arenas like Madison Square Garden regularly, and more…

But even more remarkable was his Olympic 400 triumph at Helsinki in 1952

and as star of the Jamaica WR-setting 4×400 (beating Team USA)

in 1952 Oly Games.

He lowered the WR in the 400 to 45.8 in a famous 1950 race in Eskilstuna, Sweden,

Remember reading that AP story in the NY Times and saying, “Wow!!! “

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And here are my personal memories…

As a kid, I’d go to meets (with big brother Marty) and often ask the stars if I could snap their photos…

At the Seton Hall Relays at Newark Schools Stadium, I well remember asking,

  “Mr. Rhoden, may I take your photo?”

  and he very happily obliged by getting into the “set” position.

One of his famous teammates at Morgan State was the renowned Bob Tyler of Asbury Pk.

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When he and his famous Jamaica teammates, Herb McKenley, Arthur Wint

 and Leslie Laing won the 4×400 at Helsinki in 1952; that Jamaica team was coached

  by one of my early guiding lights, the great Coach Joe Yancey of the NY Pioneer Club,

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After the 1952 Olympics, with the “old” Shore AC fading away

(likely because of diminishing finances), it was “old” Shore AC

 founding father Mr. James Wisner, who formulated the

 celebrated and famed “Dream Team” (4×400) of all Oly. gold medalists,

  now running for the Grand St Boys Club of NYC…

That team was Mal Whitfield, Andy Stanfield, Herb McKenley….and George Rhoden..

 Through one glorious winter, they broke every indoor 4×400 record in the books.

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In 1971, when we organized a Shore AC team trip to Scandinavia,

  I always wanted to bring the group to Eskilstuna, Sweden,

  in remembrance of George Rhoden’s famous 45.8 there…

 Well, we couldn’t work that out, but we still had a great time in

 Denmark, Norway, and Finland !!

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Here (below) is the George Rhoden obituary…

Hope you are okay with this story of past personal adventures…

Best to all,

Elliott…