Image by oljamu on Pixabay · Pixabay License
Mal Whitfield
Sign in to saveAmerican middle-distance runner and sprinter
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
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Malvin
- Family name
- Whitfield
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Bay City
- Place of death
- Washington, D.C.
- Occupation
- middle-distance runner
- Employer
- United States Information Agency
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Participant in
- 1948 Summer Olympics
- Sport
- 4 × 400 metres relay
- Country for sport
- United States
- Mass
- 76
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- United States Air Force
- Image
- Mal Whitfield USA Athlete, Olympic Games, London, 1948.jpg
- Height
- 185
Show 10 more facts
- date of birth
- 1924-10-11
- member of
- Tuskegee Airmen
- date of death
- 2015-11-19
- nickname
- Marvelous Mal
- sports discipline competed in
- 400 metres
- Commons category
- Mal Whitfield
- cause of death
- heart failure
- place of burial
- Arlington National Cemetery
- manner of death
- natural causes
- name in native language
- Malvin Greston Whitfield
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~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.