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Charlie Fonville
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Charlie Fonville
Personal information
Full name Charles Edward Fonville
Nationality American
Born (1927-04-27)April 27, 1927
Birmingham, Alabama
Died July 13, 1994(1994-07-13) (aged 67)
Detroit, Michigan
Alma mater University of Michigan
Occupation Athlete, Attorney

Charles "Charlie" Fonville (born April 27, 1927 – died July 13, 1994) was an American track and field athlete. He was famous for setting a world record in the shot put, a sport where athletes "put" (throw) a heavy metal ball as far as they can.

In 1945, Charlie was named the best high school track and field athlete in Michigan. He went on to win the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) shot put championship twice, in 1947 and 1948. While competing for the University of Michigan in 1948, he broke a 14-year-old world record in the shot put.

Many thought Charlie would win the 1948 Olympic gold medal. However, a back injury stopped him from qualifying for the Games. After surgery, he returned in 1950 to win his third Big Ten Conference shot put championship. Later in life, Charlie Fonville became a lawyer. He practiced law in Detroit, Michigan for 40 years. In 1979, he was honored by being added to the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.

Growing Up and Starting Track

Charlie Fonville was born in Birmingham, Alabama. When he was 11, his family moved to Decatur, Illinois. Before his last year of high school, his family moved again to Detroit.

In 1945, after just one track season at Detroit's Miller High School, Charlie was named Michigan's High School Track & Field Athlete of the Year. He won first place in the shot put at the Detroit City League Meet. His throw was much farther than the state champion's.

That summer, Charlie and another athlete, Jessie Nimmons, competed as a two-person team. They represented the St. Antoine YMCA at the Detroit YMCA Track Championship. Charlie won the 100m, 200m, high jump, and shot put events. They also ran in the 440-yard relay. Even though they ran well, they were later disqualified because teams needed four runners. They finished second overall in the meet.

In 1945, Charlie started at the University of Michigan without a scholarship. He paid for college by working summer jobs and in a sorority dining room.

Breaking Records in College

Charlie quickly became a star in college. In 1947, he won the Big Ten indoor shot put championship. The Big Ten Conference is a group of large universities that compete in sports.

Later that year, Charlie broke the Big Ten shot put record. At a meet in May 1947, he threw the shot 53 feet 10.5 inches (16.42 m). This broke the old record at Ferry Field. At the Big Ten outdoor track and field meet, he broke the overall Big Ten record. He threw the shot 53 feet 11.75 inches (16.45 m). Then, in the finals of the same meet, he threw it even farther, reaching 54 feet 1 inch (16.48 m). The next month, he won the NCAA meet with a throw of 54 feet 10.875 inches (16.74 m).

Setting a World Record in 1948

Charlie won the Big Ten indoor shot put championship again in 1948. In April 1948, he made history at the Kansas Relays. He broke the world record in the shot put with an amazing throw of 58 feet 0.25 inches (17.68 m). The old record had stood for 14 years!

News reports celebrated his achievement. The United Press newspaper agency said:

Two of the nation's greatest Black athletes smashed a pair of world records Saturday ... Charles Fonville, mighty Michigan shot putter, shattered the world mark ... Fonville's great toss came in the morning preliminaries. ... His toss Saturday was almost 6 feet (1.8 m) greater than that of his nearest competitor.

Charlie actually felt he wasn't ready for the Kansas Relays. A back injury had been bothering him. He even thought about not going.

FonvilleSequence
Charlie Fonville, University of Michigan, 1950 Michiganensian, p. 247

Charlie believed that speed was more important than just being big and heavy for the shot put. He explained his technique: "You concentrate—and then you just try to explode across the circle." His coach, Ken Doherty, called Charlie "one of the hardest working, most studious athletes" he had ever coached. Doherty also said Charlie's unique technique helped him. He would drive across the throwing circle in one smooth motion, unlike others who would stop and start.

Charlie's son later shared that his father was upset by the unfair treatment of Black athletes at the Kansas meet. Charlie and another Black athlete, Harrison Dillard, had to stay at a Black family's home. They saw white athletes getting campus tours and better treatment. They thought about leaving but decided to compete. Both Charlie and Harrison Dillard went on to set new world records at the event.

In June 1948, Charlie successfully defended his NCAA championship. He won the NCAA meet in Minneapolis with a throw of 54 feet 7 inches (16.64 m).

Back Injury and Olympic Dreams

Before the Kansas Relays, many believed Charlie was a sure winner for the 1948 Olympics. After his world record, news reports said he was one of "Uncle Sam's surest hopes for glory in London."

However, Charlie had been competing with a back injury all year. The injury got worse as the season went on. In July 1948, he had to withdraw from the National AAU championships. His coach didn't say how bad the injury was or if it would stop him from competing in the Olympics.

Charlie did compete in the Olympic trials in July 1948. But because of his injury, he couldn't perform at his best. He finished fourth and did not qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. This was a big disappointment, especially since he had broken the world record just three months earlier. Some people thought he should still be on the team, but others felt it would be unfair.

Wilbur Thompson won the gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics shot put. His winning throw was 56 feet 2 inches (17.12 m), which was almost 2.0 feet (0.61 m) shorter than Charlie's world-record throw.

Even though he missed the Olympics, Charlie was still Michigan's most valuable track and field star. His teammates chose him as captain for the 1949 season. But in late 1948, doctors found out how serious Charlie's injury was. They thought he might never compete again. Specialists at the University of Michigan Hospital found that Charlie had a fused vertebra (a bone in his spine). He had it since birth, but throwing the 16-pound (7.3 kg) iron ball had made it worse. News reports said the injury "has ended the Michigan star's brilliant collegiate shot-putting career."

A sports editor named Tom Smith wrote a tribute to Charlie. He said:

Learning that Charley Fonville, Michigan shot putting ace, will no longer thrill the crowds ... was a sickening shock. Fonville ... might have been the greatest in the history of the event. ... He destroyed the lingering notion that a good shot put man had to resemble a two-legged hippo. ... Every time he came on the line murmurs of anticipation ... through the stands. ... When [the judge] reported the Western Conference record had been broken an outburst ... popped from the stands. ... After Fonville came back from the discus, even he was swamped with young and eager autograph hunters. ...

In November, doctors operated on Charlie. They placed a bone graft onto his cracked vertebrae. After the surgery, doctors said it was "100 percent successful." Charlie refused to give up. He said he wouldn't compete in 1949, but he hoped the operation would cure him so he could compete again in 1950.

Comeback in 1950

After taking 1949 off to heal, Charlie Fonville returned to competition in 1950. The 1950 University of Michigan yearbook, Michiganensian, praised his comeback. It noted his throw of 55 feet 1 inch (16.79 m) in a January meet. This throw would have earned him second place in the 1948 Olympics.

However, Charlie couldn't quite reach the amazing distances he threw in 1948. He won a meet against Wisconsin with a throw of 53 feet 7.5 inches (16.345 m). He also won the Big Ten Conference indoor title for the third time. But news reports noted that he "either has lost his terrific snap or is favoring the back."

Jim Fuchs of Yale broke Charlie's world record. The Associated Press (AP) reported that Charlie's injured back was likely the only thing stopping him from throwing even farther. In 1952, Michigan track coach Don Canham dedicated his book Field Techniques Illustrated to Charlie Fonville. He praised Charlie for accepting disappointment as gracefully as he accepted fame and success.

Later Life

After graduating from Michigan in 1950, Charlie Fonville worked in labor relations for an automobile company. At the same time, he studied law at Wayne State University Law School at night.

Charlie became a lawyer and worked in private practice in Detroit from 1954 to 1994. In 1979, he was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor. He was part of only the second group of people to be honored, alongside famous Michigan legends like Fielding H. Yost and Fritz Crisler.

In 1994, Charlie Fonville passed away at the University of Michigan Hospital. This was the same hospital where he had his back surgery in 1948. He was 67 years old.

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