View source for Charley Paddock

{{Short description|American athlete (1900–1943)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name           = Charley Paddock
| fullname       = Charles William Paddock
| image          = Charles Paddock - 1920cr.jpg
| caption        = Charles Paddock after the 1920 Olympics
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1900|08|11|mf=y}}<ref name=britannica>{{cite web|title=Charley Paddock|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/437976/Charley-Paddock|website=britannica.com|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=June 6, 2015}}</ref>
| birth_place    = [[Gainesville, Texas]], U.S.<ref name=britannica/>
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1943|07|21|1900|08|11|mf=y}}<ref name=britannica/>
| death_place    = [[Sitka City and Borough, Alaska|Sitka, Alaska]], U.S.<ref name=britannica/>
| height         = 5 ft 7+1/2 in
| weight         = 165 lb
| sport          = Athletics
| event          = 100 m, 200 m
| alma_mater     = [[University of Southern California|USC]], [[Kappa-Alpha]]
| pb             = 100 m – 10.2 (1921)<br> 200 m – 21.0 (1923)
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Sport of athletics|athletics]]}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold  |[[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]] |[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 m]]}}
{{MedalGold  |[[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]] |[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]]}}
{{MedalSilver  |[[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]] |[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|200 m]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Paris]] |[[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|200 m]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Universiade]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1923 International Universities Championships|1923 Paris]] | 100 m}}
{{MedalGold | [[1923 International Universities Championships|1923 Paris]] | 200 m}}
| show-medals    = yes
}}

'''Charles William Paddock''' (August 11, 1900 – July 21, 1943) was an American athlete and two-time [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] champion.<ref name="sports-reference">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/charley-paddock-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417093857/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/charley-paddock-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |title=Charley Paddock Olympic Results |access-date=October 15, 2012 |work=sports-reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78873 |title=Charley Paddock |work=Olympedia |access-date=4 July 2021}}</ref>

==Biography==
Paddock was born in [[Gainesville, Texas]], to Charles H. and Lulu (Robinson) Paddock. His family moved to [[Pasadena, California]], when he was a child. After serving in [[World War I]] as a lieutenant of field artillery in the [[U.S. Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]], Paddock studied at the [[University of Southern California]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpa81|title=PADDOCK, CHARLES WILLIAM|publisher= Texas State Historical Association|access-date= October 19, 2012}}</ref> There he became a member of the track and field team, and excelled in the sprint events. He won the 100 and 200 m in the first major sporting event after the war, the 1919 [[Inter-Allied Games]], in which soldiers of the Allied nations competed against each other. Paddock was the first person named "The fastest man alive".

In 1920, Paddock represented his country at the [[1920 Summer Olympics]] in [[Antwerp]]. In Belgium, he had his greatest successes, winning the 100 m final, while placing second in the 200 m event. With the American 4 × 100 m relay team, Paddock won a third Olympic medal. Paddock became famous for his unusual finishing style, leaping towards the finish line at the end of the race.

The next year, he ran the 110 [[yard|yd]], which is slightly more than 100 m, in 10.2 seconds. It was not until 1956 that the [[World Record progression 100 m men|world record for the 100 m]] became lower than Paddock's time over 110 yard. Paddock broke or equaled several other world records over Imperial distances.

At the [[1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Olympics]], Paddock again qualified for both the 100 and 200 m finals, but he was less successful than four years earlier; he finished 5th in the 100 m and won another silver medal in the 200 m. Paddock was not a part of the American relay team. In ''[[Chariots of Fire]]'', the 1981 Oscar-winning film about those races, Paddock was portrayed by [[Dennis Christopher]]. In 1928, Paddock participated in his [[1928 Summer Olympics|third Olympics]], but did not reach the 200 m final.<ref name="sports-reference"/>

During his athletic activities, Paddock also held management positions in several newspapers; his father-in-law was newspaper publisher [[Charles H. Prisk]]. In 1926, Paddock appeared in ''[[The Campus Flirt]]'', a black-and-white silent film (now lost) featuring another Texas native, Paramount starlet [[Bebe Daniels]].<ref>E. R. Bills. ''Texas Far & Wide: The Tornado with Eyes, Gettysburg's Last Casualty, The Celestial Skipping Stone and Other Tales''. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017.</ref> Paddock served on the personal staff of Major General [[William P. Upshur]] beginning at the end of [[World War I]]. An autobiography, titled ''The Fastest Human'', was published in 1932.<ref name=britannica/>

In 1943, during [[World War II]], Upshur and Paddock (by then a captain) died in a plane crash near [[Sitka City and Borough, Alaska|Sitka]], [[Alaska]]. Paddock is interred at [[Sitka National Cemetery]] in Sitka.<ref name="sports-reference"/><ref name="WWII">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417055433/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War |access-date=24 July 2018 |work=Sports Reference}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=23 July 1943 |title=Marine Chief in pacific, Famous Sprinter Killer |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn97063183/1943-07-23/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1940&index=14&date2=1963&words=commanding+marine+officer&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&rows=20&proxtext=Marine+commanding+officer&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=4 |work= The Ypsilanti Daily Press|location=Ypsilanti, MI |access-date=2 November 2021}}</ref>

In 1976 he was inducted into the [[National Track and Field Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=127|title=Charlie Paddock|publisher=USA Track & Field, Inc.|work=usatf.org|access-date=April 1, 2009}}</ref>

==Competition record==
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing {{USA}}
|-
|1920
|[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|Olympics]]
|[[Antwerp]], Belgium
|1st
|100 m
|[[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|10.6]]
|-
|1923
|[[1923 International Universities Championships|Universiade]]
|[[Paris]], France
|1st
|100 m
|[[1923 International Universities Championships|10.4]]
|-
|1923
|[[1923 International Universities Championships|Universiade]]
|Paris, France
|1st
|200 m
|[[1923 International Universities Championships|21.0]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Charles Paddock}}
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=fpa81|name=Charles William Paddock}}
* {{World Athletics}}
* {{USATF Hall of Fame}}
* {{Team USA Hall of Fame|new_id=charley-paddock|old_id=Charley-Paddock|archive=20230720073226}}
* {{Olympics.com profile}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{Find a Grave}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414000514/http://www.charlespaddock.com/ |title=CharlesPaddock.com |date=mdy}}
{{Footer_Olympic_Champions_100_m_Men}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 4x100 m Men|1920}}
{{Footer US NC 100m Men}}
{{Footer US NC 200m Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1920 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1924 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1928 Summer Olympics}}
{{Chariots of Fire}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddock, Charley}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel killed in World War II]]
[[Category:American men sprinters]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:People from Gainesville, Texas]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Cooke County, Texas]]
[[Category:Pasadena High School (California) alumni]]
[[Category:University of Southern California alumni]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in Alaska]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Texas]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Pasadena, California]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Texas]]
[[Category:Male actors from Pasadena, California]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Burials at Sitka National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States]]
[[Category:USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Pasadena, California]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Texas]]
[[Category:USC Trojans men's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]