Tony Darden
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| Birth name | Tony Lee Darden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | September 2, 1957 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 150 lb (68 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Tony Darden (born September 2, 1957) is an American former track and field athlete, who competed in the sprints events during his career. He is best known for winning the men's 400-meter dash at the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan.
Darden had a very successful track career for his high school, Norristown High, Pennsylvania; for his university, Arizona State; and for his track club, Philadelphia Pioneers.
At high school, Darden won multiple state championships and achieved national fame by recording national indoor records at 300 and 500 yards.
At Arizona State University, Darden was a key member of the track team, competing in the sprints and sprint relay, and helped the team to their first NCAA Championship in 1977. Also in 1977, Darden was a member of two Arizona State record-breaking relay teams. The first tied the 4x220 yards world best with a time of 1:21.7 in Austin, Texas on April 1 at the Texas Relays. The second broke the world record for the 4×200 metres with a time of 1:21.4 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 30 at the Penn Relays.
In 1979, Darden having finished second at the USA championships (see below) qualified for the Pan American Games. Willie Smith, as American No. 1, was expected to be the main rival to the legendary Cuban athlete Alberto Juantorena. In the end a foot injury and a problem with a shoe put paid to his chances, and it was an inspired piece of running by Darden that meant it was he who was to beat Juantorena into second.
Darden finished third in 400 m at the 1979 Athletics World Cup and anchored the United States 4 × 400 m relay team to victory. Darden received some criticism for his run in the individual event but ran a superb relay leg to redeem his reputation.
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