Lee Evans (athlete)
Evans in 2008
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Edward Evans |
| Born |
February 25, 1947 (age 69) Madera, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | San Jose State College |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) |
| 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) |
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Medal record
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Lee Edward Evans (born February 25, 1947) is an American former track and field athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He was also a Fulbright Scholar.
While running for Overfelt High School in San Jose, California, Evans was undefeated in his high school career, improving his 440-yard time from 48.2 in 1964 to 46.9 in 1965. He attended San Jose State, where he was coached by Hall of Famer Lloyd (Bud) Winter. As a freshman, he won his first AAU championship in 440 yd (402.34 m) in 1966. He won the AAU title four years in a row (1966–1969) and again in 1972 and added the NCAA 400 m title in 1968. His only defeat during that streak came at the hands of San Jose State teammate Tommie Smith. The two were so competitive, Winter could not let them practice together.
Lee Evans achieved his first world record in 1966, as a member of the USA national team which broke the 4 × 400 m relay record at Los Angeles, the first team to better 3 minutes (2:59.6) for the event. The next year he broke the 4 x 220 yd (201.17 m) relay world record at Fresno in a time of 1:22.1.
In 1967, Evans won the 400 metres at the Pan American Games, in an automatic time of 44.95, which (in the era of hand times) was the first bona fide automatic time to break 45 seconds.
Evans won the 1968 Olympic trials at Echo Summit, California with a world record 44.06 and demolished it in the Olympic final, winning in 43.86 seconds aged 21 years and 8 months, from which he still stands as the tenth best performer in history. Evans won a second gold as the anchorman on the 4 × 400 m relay team, setting another world record of 2:56.16. Both the times stood as a world record for almost twenty years (the relay, for almost 24 years). While accepting the relay Gold medal Evans, with fellow African-American medalists Larry James and Ron Freeman, received their medals wearing berets in imitation of the Black Panther Party.
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