Lindy Remigino

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Olympic medal record Men's athleticsGold 1952 Helsinki 100 metersGold 1952 Helsinki 4x100 m relay

Lindy John Remigino (born June 3, 1931) is an American athlete, the 1952 Olympic 100 m champion.

Biography

Remigino was born in Elmhurst, Queens, New York in 1931.

In 1952 he won the ICAAAA 220 championship in 1952, then placed close second to Morgan State's sprinter, Art Bragg, at US Olympic Trials.

In Helsinki, Remigino continued on a roll. In pre-Olympic workouts, none of the other spinters managed to come close to catching him in the practice runs. Italian fans watching got to cheering him on. Art Bragg was injured prior to the Games, and eliminated in the Trials. The other American Dean Smith of Texas qualified for the final. The Olympic 100 meters final was one of the most exciting in the history of the event.

Out of the blocks, John Treloar took a step ahead, but Remigino the eventual Olympic champion and several more quickly picked him up, with Jamaica's Herb McKenley lagging well behind. By the 80 m mark, Remigino held that big lead: however, in his excitement at sight of the advancing tape, he pitched forward in a virtual lean. He therefore decelerated in the lean, and, as McKenley came quickly, at the tape no one was certain who won. The officials, however, agreed to give gold medal to Remigino.

All six athletes finished very close to each other, in fact, the times ranging from 10.4 for the first four to 10.5 for the fifth and sixth runners.

Across Europe that Summer, Remigino defeated McKenley several times more at 100, while McKenley defeated the new "World's Fastest Human" one time in the 200 m race. In Oslo, Norway, Remigino won in 10.2 s to equal the 100-meters world-record, but an out of place wind-o-meter was relied upon to cancel ratification.

In 1953, Remigino won both ICAAAA sprint championships. In 1955 he placed second to Bobby Morrow in the 100 US Nationals.

After his running career, Remigino became a high school coach. His Hartford Public High School teams won 31 state titles in his 43 year career.