Ronnie Ray Smith

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Ronnie Smith
File:Ronnie Ray Smith 1968.jpg
Personal information
Birth name Ronald Ray Smith
Born (1949-03-28)March 28, 1949
Los Angeles, California, United States
Died Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day
Los Angeles, California, United States
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 100 m, 200 m
Club Southern California Striders, Anaheim
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 100 yd – 9.3 (1969)
100 m – 10.14 (9.9h) (1968)
200 m – 20.4 (1968)
Medal record
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City 4×100 m relay

Ronald "Ronnie" Ray Smith (March 28, 1949 – March 31, 2013) was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4×100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He attended San Jose State College during the "Speed City" era, coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter and graduating in sociology.[1]

At the 1968 AAU Championships, Ronnie Ray Smith equaled the 100 m world record in the semifinal, repeating the same time of 9.9 which was run by Jim Hines in the same race and Charles Greene in the other semifinal of the same competition.[2] That evening of June 20, 1968 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California has been dubbed by track and field historians as the "Night of Speed."[3][4] Since Smith was still 19 years old at the time, that mark also became the World Junior Record, which lasted for exactly 8 years.

At the Mexico Olympics, Smith ran the third leg in the American 4×100 m relay team that won the gold medal and set a new world record of 38.24 seconds.[1]

Before arriving at San Jose State, Smith ran at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, finishing third in the 220 yard dash at the CIF California State Meet in 1966.[5]

After retiring from competitions Smith worked as the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department. He was inducted into the San Jose State Sports Hall of Fame.[1]

Smith died in a hospice facility in Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 2013. He was 64.[6] His funeral was featured on the TLC reality T.V. show Best Funeral Ever. His casket "ran" a 100yd race and was propped up to receive a gold medal in a mock Olympics.[7]

References

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External links

Records
Preceded by
Unknown
 100 metres world junior record holder
June 20, 1968 – June 20, 1976		 Succeeded by
Harvey Glance

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ronnie Ray Smith. sports-reference.com
  2. ↑ IAAF Record Progression. IAAF. p. 547
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ California State Meet Results – 1915 to present. Prepcaltrack.com. Retrieved on July 12, 2015.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Videos. TLC (May 9, 2014). Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
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