Charles Bacon

Charles Bacon
	;
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the United States
Olympic Games

Charles Bacon
Charles Bacon
	Charles J. Bacon Jr. at the 1908 Olympic Games.
Born	January 9, 1885
Died	November 15, 1968 (aged 83)
Occupation	Athletics (sport) competitor

Charles James Bacon, Jr. (January 9, 1885 – November 15, 1968) was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department. He won the 400 metres hurdles at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York and died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

At the 1904 Summer Olympics he finished ninth in the 1500 metres event.

Two years later at the 1906 Summer Olympics he finished fifth in the 400 metres competition and sixth in the 800 metres event.

Just a month and a half before the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Bacon ran in Philadelphia setting a new unofficial world record of 55.8 in the 400 metre hurdles.

At the Olympic Games in 1908, he and fellow American Harry Hillman went over the last hurdle simultaneously, after which Bacon pulled away on the straight to win in a new world record of 55.0 seconds. This record was recognised by IAAF, thus Bacon became the first world record holder in the 400 metres hurdles. The same year, Bacon set the worlds record for the 440 yards, 10 hurdles, 3 feet 6 inches at Celtic Park, Queens, New York, the home of the Irish American Athletic Club on October 11, 1908.^[1]

Notes

^ 1910 Mecca Cigarettes Champion Athlete and Prize Fighter Series trading card.

References

Cook, Theodore Andrea (May 1909). The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report (PDF). London: British Olympic Association. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians.
Greenberg, Stan (1987). Olympic Games: The Records. London: Guinness Books. ISBN 0-85112-896-3.
Kieran, John (1977). The Story of the Olympic Games; 776 B.C. to 1976. Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company. ISBN 0-397-01168-7.