Charles W. Paddock

1900 - 1943

Olympic Champion (1920 & 1924), Charley Paddock, was the first man to be coined as "The Fastest Human;" and also may have been the first man in Olympic History to be  allegedly used and abused by the A. A. U. and U. S. A. Olympic Committee.

Charley Paddock was an outstanding athlete -- whose sprinting style was never duplicated as he alone knew how and when to swiftly take off in flight through the air to a successful 1st place finish.

Paddock loved traveling the world, and became a sports writer for both the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and the Pasadena Star-News in California. 

When WWII broke out (1941), Paddock joined the U. S. Marines and became a captain for the Pacific Department.  He was killed in an air crash near Sitka, Alaska on July 23, 1943.

Statistics:

Olympics 1920, Antwerp:

Olympic Gold in the 100M (10.8s)

Olympic Silver in the 200M (22.1)

Olympics 1924, Paris:  

100 M (placed 5th)

Olympic Silver in the 200M (21.7s)

Olympic Gold - 400M Relay

World Record -- 1921 - 100M (10 2/5s)

World Record -- 200M - 21.00

E-Mail concerning Charley Paddock

Derek Griffin wrote:

Re Charley Paddock. Charley Paddock did not win the 100M  gold at the 1924 Olympics, Harold Abrahams of Great Britain won the gold , Jackson Scholz the silver. Paddock was 5th. Is this another case of Americans rewriting History.

FrankWykoff2.Com replied:
 

Dear Derek,
Thank you for your interest in FrankWykoff2.com and your correction to the statistics concerning Charley Paddock winning a Gold medal in the 100M at the 1924 Olympics. I am making the correction immediately. Jackson Scholz also won Gold in the 200m run in 1924.

No, USA is not attempting to rewrite history -- we in the USA make a FEW HONEST MISTAKES just like everyone else in the world.

I really do appreciate you thinking enough to write to me about this, because I don't want to have errors on my web site. If you see anything else, be sure to contact me so I can check it out and make the corrections.

Terri Wykoff,
 

Jim Miller wrote:

Thanks so much for the work done on this site. I came here looking for information on Charles William Paddock and didn't go away disappointed! I also now know more about Frank W. Thanks!

___________________

Other pages found at FrankWykoff.Com concerning Charley Paddock

USA Track & Field Biography - Charley Paddock:

http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=127

___________________

Other Tributes

Coach Dean Cromwell

Foy Draper

Jesse Owens

> Charley W. Paddock

James Quinn

Frank C. Wykoff