Eddie Tolan
Eddie Tolan, born on September 29, 1908, in Denver, Colorado, was a prominent American sprinter and Olympic champion, known for his remarkable contributions to athletics and his status as one of the fastest men of his time. Raised in Detroit after his family's move, Tolan excelled academically and athletically at Cass Technical High School, earning a football scholarship to the University of Michigan. Although he initially struggled in football, he shifted his focus to track, where he achieved significant success, breaking records in the 100- and 220-yard sprints.
At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Tolan made history by becoming the first black athlete to win two gold medals, triumphing in the 100 meters and 200 meters, while also setting an Olympic record. His victories had a lasting impact, inspiring future generations of African American athletes, including Jesse Owens. Despite his athletic fame, Tolan faced challenges in pursuing his dream of becoming a physician due to the economic climate of the Great Depression. He worked various jobs, including as a teacher, until his death in 1967. Tolan's legacy includes his role in changing perceptions of black athletes in sports, and he was posthumously inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1982.
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Subject Terms
Eddie Tolan
Track and Field Athlete
- Born: September 29, 1908
- Birthplace: Denver, Colorado
- Died: January 31, 1967
- Place of death: Detroit, Michigan
Sport: Track and field (sprints)
Early Life
Thomas Edward “Eddie” Tolan was born on September 29, 1908, in Denver, Colorado. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved the family to Detroit, Michigan. Experiencing difficult times in Detroit, Eddie’s parents separated, and he and his two sisters were raised by his mother, Alice.
Alice Tolan encouraged her children to get a good education. Eddie attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit and distinguished himself as an excellent student. He was also a standout in both football and track. Eddie’s extraordinary athletic ability enabled him to develop into one of Michigan’s best high school quarterbacks. Though weighing only 132 pounds, Eddie once scored six touchdowns in a single game, a feat he considered his greatest athletic thrill.
During the spring, Eddie ran track, and in his senior year, he won both the Detroit city championship and Michigan state championship in the 100- and 220-yard sprints.
The Road to Excellence
Eddie’s high school athletic exploits earned him a scholarship to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. At 5 feet 7 inches and 140 pounds, Eddie had a difficult time achieving the same football success he had enjoyed in high school. Although football was his favorite sport, Eddie took the advice of his football coach and, after his freshman year, decided to devote all of his time and energy to track.
Eddie attempted to qualify for the 1928 Olympic team in his specialties, the 100 and 220, but failed to place in the top three in either event. Disappointed, but benefiting from the world-class experience, the speedster returned to the University of Michigan track team and set the school and conference record in both the 100- and 220-yard sprints.
In 1929, Eddie was ranked as one of the best American sprinters. He bettered the world record in the 100 yards twice and became the first runner in track history to be clocked officially at 9.5 seconds in the 100-yard distance.
During the next two years, Eddie won almost every major track title. In addition to winning races, Eddie was making excellent grades and graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. degree in education. He hoped to continue his education the following year and pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a medical physician.
The Emerging Champion
Events of 1932, however, delayed his plans for a medical career. In that summer, he qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for the Los Angeles Games. Despite his tremendous collegiate record, Eddie entered the Games as an underdog to Ralph Metcalfe of Marquette University and George Simpson of Ohio State University because both had beaten him in the Olympic trials.
At the Los Angeles Games, the nearsighted Michigan sprinter, with his glasses taped to his head, withstood a strong finish from Ralph Metcalfe and won the 100 meters in a photo finish. Two judges timed Eddie in 10.3 seconds and a third in 10.4 seconds, while three judges timed Metcalfe in 10.3 seconds. The photograph, however, showed that Eddie was the winner by a margin of 1 inch. The time of 10.3 seconds was both an Olympic and a world record.
Eddie won his second gold medal in the 200 meters. He ran the event in a time of 21.2 seconds, setting another Olympic record and once again beating Metcalfe and Simpson. Despite two gold medals and a world record in the 100 meters, Eddie was not selected by the Olympic coaches to run on the 4 100-meter relay team, which won a gold medal and set a new world record.
Eddie, nicknamed the “Midnight Express,” was the first black athlete to win two gold medals at the Olympics and to be called the “fastest man alive.” His accomplishments encouraged African Americans to believe that they could do the same. Eddie’s sprint victories in 1932 paved the way for other African American sprinters such as Jesse Owens, a 100- and 200-meter gold medal winner in 1936, and Harrison Dillard, a double-sprint winner in 1948. Coincidently, both of these men shared the Olympic record of 10.3 seconds with Eddie until it was finally broken in 1960, by Germany’s Armin Hary, who lowered the Olympic mark to 10.2.
Continuing the Story
Eddie’s mother was proud of her son’s Olympic victories, but she was prouder of his determination to be a physician. After the Olympics, however, Eddie was not able to return to college to pursue his dream of a medical career. The United States was in the midst of a great economic depression and jobs were extremely hard to find.
Two Olympic gold medal victories in Los Angeles enabled Eddie to land a job as a vaudevilleactor and tour the United States with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, the famous dancer. Eddie appeared on stage as the “world’s fastest human” and told the audience stories about his experiences at the Olympic Games. The money he earned did not go to finance his study of medicine but rather for the support of his mother and two sisters in Detroit.
As the months went by, the 1932 Olympic Games were forgotten, and Eddie’s vaudeville career ended. In 1933, at the age of twenty-six, Eddie got a job as a filing clerk in the Detroit County Record Office. Two years later, Eddie used his education degree and taught physical education to children in a Detroit elementary school. Eddie held that post until he died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-eight in 1967. He had never married.
Summary
Three years before he died, Eddie Tolan was asked by a reporter what he considered to be the biggest change in the sport since he had competed. Eddie remarked, “The attitude toward Negroes. Back in my day, if you saw a Negro in sports, you knew he had to be head and shoulders above the rest.” Eddie played a major role in that change of attitude and the stereotypical perception of the black athlete. In 1982, he was recognized for his track achievements when he was elected to the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Bibliography
Findling, John E., and Kimberly D. Pelle, eds. Historical Dictionary of the Modern Olympic Movement. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Hickok, Ralph. A Who’s Who of Sports Champions. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.
Wallechinsky, David, and Jaime Loucky. The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press, 2008.
Wiggins, David Kenneth, and Patrick B. Miller. The Unlevel Playing Field: A Documentary History of the African American Experience in Sport. 2d ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005.