Medal record
Men's Athletics
Competitor for  South Africa
Olympic Games
Gold	1908 London	100 metres

Reginald Edgar "Reggie" Walker (March 16, 1889 – November 5, 1951) was a South African athlete and the 1908 Olympic champion in the 100 metres.

[edit] Biography

Born in Natal, Walker, the 1907 South African Champion, was not among the big favourites for the 100 metres at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He even had trouble getting to London, as he lacked the necessary finances until a Natal sportswriter collected funds to support Walker's travel. In England, he was coached by Sam Mussabini, later also the coach of Harold Abrahams.

Several of the big names did not qualify for the final, but Walker did. His first round was a relatively easy victory run in 11.0 seconds. In the second round, Walker edged out William W. May of the United States while tying the Olympic record of 10.8 seconds. This qualified him for the final. There he competed against three North Americans, including James Rector of the United States, who had equalled the Olympic Record in both of the qualifier rounds. Walker beat Rector in the final by about a foot and half.

Walker is still the youngest winner of the Olympic 100 metres as of 2008^[update] (at 19 years and 128 days).

[edit] References

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association. 
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1908.html. Retrieved 14 July 2006. 
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich". http://olympic.w.interia.pl/. Retrieved 14 July 2006.  (Polish)

[edit] External links

• Reggie Walker on databaseOlympics.com

v • d • e Olympic Champions in Men's 100 m 1896: Tom Burke • 1900: Frank Jarvis • 1904: Archie Hahn • 1908: Reggie Walker • 1912: Ralph Craig • 1920: Charlie Paddock • 1924: Harold Abrahams • 1928: Percy Williams • 1932: Eddie Tolan • 1936: Jesse Owens • 1948: Harrison Dillard • 1952: Lindy Remigino • 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow • 1960: Armin Hary • 1964: Bob Hayes • 1968: Jim Hines • 1972: Valeri Borzov • 1976: Hasely Crawford • 1980: Allan Wells • 1984: Carl Lewis • 1988: Carl Lewis • 1992: Linford Christie • 1996: Donovan Bailey • 2000: Maurice Greene • 2004: Justin Gatlin • 2008: Usain Bolt

Persondata
NAME	Walker, Reginald Edgar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	South African athlete, Olympic medalist
DATE OF BIRTH	March 16, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH	KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
DATE OF DEATH	November 5, 1951
PLACE OF DEATH