3-time Olympic gold medalist Bobby Joe Morrow dies at 84
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Bobby Joe Morrow died on Saturday of natural causes at his home in Texas, his family told the Associated Press. He was 84.
Morrow won the gold medal in both the 100-meter and the 200-meter races at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, and anchored the 400-meter relay team that won a gold medal and set a world record in the process. Morrow ran the 200-meter in just 20.6 seconds that day, too, which matched the world record.
Morrow won his three medals while he was a student at Abilene Christian University, too, just months after he swept the sprints at the national college championships. He defended his AAU 100-yard title that year, too, per the report.
Following the Olympics in Australia, Morrow was named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year.” He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989.
Texas TF Hall of Fame Trivia:
Bobby Morrow:
* Won 3 Golds in 1956 Olympics: 100, 200, 4x100 - 1st American since Owens (1936) to win these 3 Golds
* 1956 SI Sportsman of Year
*1956-58: top sprinter in world
* As HS senior, won 17 100/220 races & state titles in both@ACU_TFXC pic.twitter.com/2NKEshTlEX— TTFCA (@TTFCA) May 30, 2020
The Rio Grande Valley area native ran track and played football at San Benito High School, too, and had the football stadium there named after him.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Morrow family. We’ll pass along additional information as it’s received. https://t.co/Io0rTnaKg4
— ACU Sports (@ACUsports) May 30, 2020
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