World Record

[Garry-Track & Field]

Good question! At first, I thought it was Carl Lewis. Anyway, I'm still trying to find out.

[DoubleRBar]

Yes, Quarrie gave the baton to this anchorman. Don Quarrie was 33 in Los Angeles (1984).

[tandfman]

Quarrie ran third leg.

[bobguild76]

My first thought is Don Quarrie, but I wonder if he was too old by then.

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday yesterday (Wednesday) to Calvin Smith (59) and nice job, Master403. Smith, of course won his only Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles (1984) when he ran the third leg on the winning U.S. four by 100 relay team. They set a world record of 37.83 with Calvin running his third leg in 9.41. Anchorman Carl Lewis ran 8.94 and the U.S. beat Jamaica by 0.79 of a second.

I never thought about the fact that Calvin Smith set his world 100 record in a city with his same initials (Colorado Springs). I would guess that this is very uncommon. Can anyone name another world record holder who set that world mark in a city with the same initials as the athlete that set the world record there?

Another easier trivia question is: Who anchored the silver medal Jamaican men's four by 100 relay team in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics?

[dukehjsteve]

and "CS" needs an "A" after it

[thedoorknobbroke]

I second Master403 motion: Calvin Smith it has to be.

[Master403]

Given all the accumulated clues, doesn't it have to be Calvin Smith?
It also occurs to me that he set his world record in a city that shares his initials. That can't be too common, but you guys will probably come up with a dozen other examples.

[DoubleRBar]

You're right, thedoorknobbroke. There were no gold medals for Canadian track and field in 1984.

[thedoorknobbroke]

No Canadian golds in LA, unless...were the gold medal winning USA women's 4X1 or 4x4 relays later DQ'd? Just wondering...I don't have access to any sources of info that would include this.

[DoubleRBar]

Thank you, Olli.

[Olli]

Now I think I figured it out. That WAS sly!

[DoubleRBar]

Very good, Olli.

[Olli]

I couldn't figure this out even by doing research, but perhaps thedoorknobbroke referred to a possibility I overlooked. If (s)he was born 1961, (s)he probably won in 1984, 1988, or 1992. Since there are few countries that speak Korean (and no North Korean won in Seoul), it must have been an English-speaker in Los Angeles or a Spanish-speaker in Barcelona, like Sotomayor. However, I think Sotomayor was featured in a birthday quiz some months ago. Moreover, I think Cuba and other Latin American countries are more than 3,180 km away from Barcelona.

This suggests it was an English-speaker in Los Angeles. There seems to be an obvious choice for a relatively nearby English-speaking country (even though a minority in that country might disagree). However, it even occurred to me that the mystery athlete might be from somethning like eastern USA, if DoubleRBar was sly enough, since that would technically speaking fit the clue "The country where this champion was born and the country where this athlete won Olympic gold both speak the same language."

[DoubleRBar]

Pego and thedoorknobbroke are on the "right track" (fast track).