Name: Harrison Dillard
Sport: Track and Field
Event(s): 100-meter Hurdles, 100, 4x100 Relay
DOB: 7/8/1923
Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
High School: East Technical High School (Cleveland, Ohio)
College: Baldwin-Wallace College
Olympic Experience
- Two-time Olympian (1948, 1952); four-time Olympic medalist (4 golds)
- London 1948, gold (100-meter, 4x100)
- Helsinki 1952, gold (100 hurdles, 4x100)
Personal:
Parents worked as sharecroppers in Alabama before moving to Cleveland...One of four children...Began hurdling at 8 years old, running in an alley and using abandoned car-seat springs as barriers...Went to the same high school as his boyhood idol Jesse Owens...Spoke to Owens at the 1936 post-Olympic Games victory parade in Cleveland and received his first pair of running shoes from Owens...Fought in World War II as part of the all-black 92nd Infantry Division, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, before going to the Olympic Games London 1948...Won four national collegiate titles in high and low hurdles at Baldwin-Wallace College...Nicknamed “Bones” because of his spindly size and thin body...Worked for the Cleveland Indians franchise and hosted a radio talk show on Cleveland’s WERE...Later served the Cleveland City School District as a business manager...Wrote an autobiography entitled “Bones” in 2012...Father to one daughter, Terri.