Ralph Cook Craig (June 21, 1889 – July 21, 1972) was an American

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. He was the winner of the sprint double at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

.Ralph Craig
sports-reference.com. Craig began his track career as a

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

at Detroit Central High School and only later developed into a sprinter at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. In 1910, he won the

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level coll ...

220 y championship, repeating this the following year. In 1912, Craig qualified for the Olympic team and went to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where he reached the final of the

100 m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

. A big favorite was his compatriot Donald Lippincott, who had set a world record of 10.6 in the heats. After no less than seven false starts, Craig won the race in 10.8 – Lippincott only finished third. Craig fought another battle with Lippincott in the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

, edging him to win the 200 m title. Craig was not a part of the American 4 × 100 m relay team, which was disqualified. Immediately after the Olympics, Craig retired from the sport. His younger brother, James B. Craig, also ran track at Michigan and starred for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

team, earning a consensus selection to the 1913 College Football All-America Team. In 1948, Craig returned to the Olympics as an alternate on the US

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team. Although he did not compete, Craig (59) carried the American flag at the opening ceremonies in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Craig was employed for many years as an administrator with the New York State Unemployment Bureau. He died at Lake George, New York. In 2010, he was inducted into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Competitions

*In March 1911, Craig set a new record by running the 40-yard high hurdles in 5.2 seconds, breaking the prior record held by Forrest Smithson. *In May 1911, at his last competition wearing the Michigan uniform, Craig helped the Wolverines to a third-place finish in the inter-collegiate meet. He tied the inter-collegiate record in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.8 seconds. He also tied the world record in the 220-yard dash with a time of 21.2 seconds. The Wolverines finished the meet with 24 points, trailing only Cornell (30 points) and Yale (24-1/2 points).

References

External links

Ralph Craig's entry in the Michigan Track & Field Hall of Fame
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Ralph 1889 births 1972 deaths American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Dragon class sailors American male sailors (sport) Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field People from Lake George, New York Track and field athletes from Detroit 20th-century American sportsmen