Willie Smith (American athlete)
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| Birth name | Willie James Smith III | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
February 28, 1956 Rochester, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 161 lb (73 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 400 meters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Auburn Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 400m - 44.73 s (1978) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Willie Smith (born February 28, 1956) is an American athlete who was the national champion 400 metres runner in 1979-80, and won gold at the 1984 Olympics as part of the 4 x 400m relay squad.
Smith attended Auburn University. For them, he was a successful college athlete for their sports team, the Auburn Tigers. Smith arrived at Auburn as a nationally renowned high-school sprinter from his time at Uniondale High School, New York. He was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1974.
Smith initially started his college career as a sprinter but graduated to the longer distance of 400 m. This change was necessitated because he suffered both from some injuries whilst running the shorter sprints and also because of emerging competition from other up-and-coming sprinters like Harvey Glance. Smith, however, was a successful enough 100 m sprinter to be an alternate for the United States 4 x 100m relay team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He had in fact finished fifth in the 100 m final at the United States Olympic Trials, and was placed in the third qualifying position up to 80 m of the race. . At his new distance of 400 m, Smith quickly achieved national success, winning two NCAA titles at the distance. Internationally, he won a silver at the 1977 World Student Games at 400 m.
In his graduation year of 1978, Smith received the accolade of his university's top honor as Athlete of the Year.
After graduation, Smith continued as an athlete. He was twice United States National Champion at 400m, in 1979 and 1980. His reward in 1979 was a place on the American team for the Pan American Games at 400 m. Here he won bronze. Smith, as American No. 1 was expected to be the main rival to the great Cuban athlete Alberto Juantorena. In the end, a foot injury and a problem with a shoe, plus an inspired piece of running by his American colleague Tony Darden, meant it was Darden and not him who beat Juantorena into second.
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