Dave Sime
Sime at the 1960 Olympics
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| Personal information | ||||||||||
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| Full name | David William Sime | |||||||||
| Nationality | American | |||||||||
| Born |
July 25, 1936 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
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| Died | January 12, 2016 (aged 79) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
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| Education |
Duke University, 1958 M.D. 1962 |
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| Occupation | Ophthalmologist | |||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | |||||||||
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) | |||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||
| Sport | Track | |||||||||
| Event(s) | sprint running | |||||||||
| Club | Duke Blue Devils, Durham | |||||||||
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Medal record
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David William Sime (/sɪm/; July 25, 1936 – January 12, 2016) was an American sprinter, multi-sport athlete at Duke University, and a pioneering ophthalmologist. He won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Olympic Games and ranked as one of the fastest humans of all time. He held several sprint records during the late 1950s.
Sime was born on July 25, 1936, in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Evelyn and Charles Sime, neither of whom graduated from high school. He grew up in Fair Lawn and played football and baseball at Fair Lawn High School, but did not run track. He was a charter member of the Fair Lawn High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
Sime applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point, as his dream was to become a pilot, but discovered he was color blind and accepted a baseball scholarship to Duke University in North Carolina.
Sime was a member of Duke's baseball and track and field teams, and played football for a season in 1958, while a first-year medical school student. His beginnings in track were accidental: his 100-yard dash on an unmowed grass surface in baseball shoes was a rapid 9.8 seconds, and the coaches soon asked him to join the track team. Opting not to play freshman football, he had gone out for fall track to stay in shape for baseball. Sime hit over .400 as a freshman and had the intention continuing in baseball for coach Ace Parker, but his success during winter track changed that. Parker was a former multi-sport athlete and recognized the exceptional speed and Olympic potential; Sime focused on track in 1956, then split time between both sports in 1957.
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