Lee Evans (sprinter) facts for kids
Evans in 2008
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | February 25, 1947 Madera, California, U.S. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | May 19, 2021 (aged 74) Lagos, Nigeria |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | San Jose State College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 172 lb (78 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100–800 m sprint, hurdles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Santa Clara Valley Youth Village | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 100 m – 10.9 (1966) 200 m – 20.4 (1969) 400 m – 43.86 (1968) 880 yd – 1:52.0 (1966) 440 ydH – 50.5 (1970) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lee Edward Evans (February 25, 1947 – May 19, 2021) was an amazing American sprinter. He won two gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He set new world records in both the 400 meters race and the 4 × 400 meters relay. These records stood for a very long time, 20 and 24 years!
Lee Evans was also a leader in fighting for human rights. He helped start the Olympic Project for Human Rights. He was part of a movement where athletes spoke up for what they believed in, especially supporting the Black Power movement.
Contents
Early Life and School Years
Lee Edward Evans was born on February 25, 1947, in Madera, California. His parents were Dayton and Pearlie Mae Evans. When he was four, his family moved to Fresno. Growing up, Lee and his brothers and sisters worked hard. They harvested grapes and picked cotton in the fields.
He went to Madison Elementary School. In his last year there, he started training for his first race. He would race his friends at school. Later, at Central Union High School, he was placed in a special group for the 660-yard dash. This was because of his height, weight, and age.
When Lee was in his second year of high school, his family moved to San Jose, California. This was because his mother got sick with Valley fever. Lee ran track for Overfelt High School. He was unbeatable there, improving his 440-yard time from 48.2 seconds in 1964 to 46.9 seconds in 1965.
Lee went to San Jose State. He studied sociology and was coached by the famous Bud Winter. In 1966, as a freshman, he won his first AAU championship in the 440 yd (about 402 meters) race. He won this AAU title four years in a row, from 1966 to 1969. He also won the NCAA 400-meter title in 1968.
His only loss during this winning streak was to his own San Jose State teammate, Tommie Smith. They were so competitive that their coach, Bud Winter, couldn't let them practice together!
Setting World Records
Lee Evans set his first world record in 1966. He was part of the USA national team that broke the 4 × 400-meter relay record in Los Angeles. They were the first team ever to finish this race in under 3 minutes (2:59.6).
The next year, in 1967, he helped break another world record. This was for the 4 x 220-yard (about 201 meters) relay in Fresno, with a time of 1:22.1. Also in 1967, Evans won the 400 meters at the Pan American Games. His time was 44.95 seconds. This was the first time someone officially ran the 400 meters in under 45 seconds using automatic timing.
Olympic Achievements and Activism
Lee Evans was a very important leader in the Black Power movement. This movement started with black students protesting for fair housing. It grew into a bigger movement after an interview with fellow athlete Tommie Smith. Tommie Smith and John Carlos became well-known faces of the movement. However, Smith and Evans were the main people working behind the scenes.
The black athletes at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics decided not to boycott the entire Olympics. Instead, they chose to protest by wearing black clothing during every event they took part in. Evans wanted the world to understand his feelings about the Mexico City Olympic Games. But he also didn't want to take away from the winners or the sports themselves.
Before and during the Olympics, Evans faced some difficulties. He felt that if he hadn't been worried, he might have run even faster. Even so, he still broke a world record!
Mexico City Olympics 1968
Evans won the 1968 Olympic trials in Echo Summit, California. He set a world record of 44.06 seconds. In the Olympic final, he ran even faster, winning in 43.86 seconds. He was only 21 years old and his time is still one of the fastest ever.
Evans won a second gold medal as the last runner on the 4 × 400-meter relay team. They set another world record of 2:56.16. Both of his world records stood for a very long time. The 400-meter record lasted almost 20 years, and the relay record lasted almost 24 years!
When Evans, Larry James, and Ron Freeman received their relay Gold medals, they wore black berets. This was a symbol of the Black Panther Party and their support for human rights.
1972 Olympics
After winning the AAU 400-meter titles in 1969 and 1972, Evans finished fourth in the 1972 Olympic trials. He was still chosen for the 4 × 400-meter relay team. However, the United States team could not compete in the relay. This was because Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett were suspended by the International Olympic Committee. They had made a protest at a medal ceremony, similar to what Tommie Smith and John Carlos did at the previous Olympics.
Life After the Olympics
After the 1972 season, Evans became a professional runner. He joined the International Track Association (ITA) tour. He did well on the ITA tour, even setting a world best time for the 600 meters indoors. The ITA stopped operating in 1976. Evans was able to become an amateur athlete again in 1980. He ran a 46.5-second 400-meter race that year, even at 33 years old.
Lee Evans later became a coach. He led national athletics programs in six different African countries. He then became the head coach for cross country and track & field at the University of South Alabama.
Lee Evans's college and amateur running career, as well as his important role in the Civil Rights Movement, are written about in a book called The Last Protest: Lee Evans in Mexico City. In 1983, Lee Evans was honored by being inducted into the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
In 2011, Lee Evans had a health issue and underwent surgery. In May 2021, he had a stroke and was hospitalized in Lagos, Nigeria. He passed away on May 19, 2021, at the age of 74.
See also
In Spanish: Lee Evans para niños
