Skip to content
Mal Whitfield

Image by oljamu on Pixabay · Pixabay License

EntityQ504643· pop 29· linked from 854 articles

Mal Whitfield

Sign in to save

American middle-distance runner and sprinter

Person · Open Library

Born
1924
Works
2

Top works

  • Beyond the finish line
  • Learning to run

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Country
GB
Active from
1925-11-11
Active to
2018-12-28

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Key facts

Nickname
Marvelous Mal
Born
Malvin Greston Whitfield , ( 1924-10-11 ) October 11, 1924, Bay City, Texas , U.S.
Died
November 19, 2015 (2015-11-19) (aged 91) , Washington, D.C. , U.S.
Height
6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight
168 lb (76 kg)
Sport
Track and field
Event s
400 metres , 800 metres
Personal best s
400 m : 45.9 (1953), 800 m : 1:47.9 (1953)

via Wikipedia infobox

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Malvin Greston Whitfield (October 11, 1924 – November 19, 2015) was an American athlete, goodwill ambassador, and airman. Nicknamed Marvelous Mal, he was the Olympic champion in the 800 meters at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, and a member of the 1948 gold medal team in the 4 × 400 metres relay. Overall, Whitfield was a five-time Olympic medalist (three gold, one silver, one bronze). After his competitive career, he worked for 47 years as a coach, goodwill ambassador, as well as an athletic mentor in Africa on behalf of the United States Information Service.

Early life

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mal Whitfield” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.