Nathaniel Cartmell

Nathaniel Cartmell

Nathaniel Cartmell at the 1908 Olympics
Personal information
Born	January 13, 1883 Uniontown, Kentucky, United States
Died	August 23, 1967 (aged 84) Forest Hills, New York, United States
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	71 kg (157 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	100–400 m
Club	University of Pennsylvania Louisville YMCA
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m – 11.0 (1908) 200 m – 21.5 (1907)) 400 m – 50.1 (1909)
Medal record Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1908 London Medley relay 1904 St. Louis 100 m 1904 St. Louis 200 m 1908 London 200 m

Nathaniel John Cartmell (January 13, 1883 – August 23, 1967), also known as Nat and Nate, was an American athlete who won medals at two editions of the Olympic Games. He is also known for being the first head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team.

While the reason why Cartmell was nicknamed "Bloody Neck" is not entirely known, author Ken Rappoport speculates that it either comes from his use of the term Bloody due to the fact his family came from Cartmel, England, or from the fact that he had a childhood accident where he lost two and a half fingers from his right hand when an ax slipped while he was chopping wood.

In the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, Cartmell won silver medals in both the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter straightaway. He also participated in the 60 meters event but was eliminated in the repechage.

Cartmell was a member of the gold medal American medley relay team at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He was the second runner on the squad, running 200 meters. He followed William Hamilton and was followed by John Taylor and Mel Sheppard. In both the first round heat and the final Cartmell received a lead from Hamilton and built upon it before turning over the race to Taylor. The team won both races, running the 1,600 meters in 3:27.2 in the first round and 3:29.4 in the final. Cartmell's split for the final was 22.2 seconds.