Arnold Milton Sowell (born April 6, 1935) is a former middle distance runner from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, who represented his native country at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

. He finished fourth in the Men's 800-meter race.

Life

The son of a Pittsburgh city council maintenance man, Sowell was a 1953 graduate of

Schenley High School Schenley High School, located in the North Oakland neighborhood at the edge of the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a historic building opened in 1916 that was a part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Schenley High School build ...

. As a student at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, he became a prize-winning athlete while a member of the

Pitt Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

track and field team, taking the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's 880-yard titles in 1954 and 1956. In 1956, he also won the annual Charles C. Hartwig award. After leaving college with a business degree in 1957, he married fellow Pitt graduate, Barbara Peace, who had earned her degree in arts and sciences. He then embarked on a career in the military. Sowell's admittance in 1957 to the

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

United States Army Training School as a second lieutenant was viewed as newsworthy at the time. He continued his running career into 1959 as a representative of the army, and competed on the

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

team. In 1980, he retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the military, Sowell worked as a procurement director for the Charlotte (North Carolina) Housing Authority.

Legacy

Sowell has never been forgotten as a famous alumnus of Pitt and as a distinguished member of the African-American community. He has received accolades from the African American Alumni Council (AAAC) and the 1996 Award of Distinction by the Varsity Letter Club. In 2007, Sowell was one of the guests of honor at a celebration of fellow Olympian and Pitt alumnus

Herb Douglas Herbert Paul Douglas Jr. (March 9, 1922 – April 22, 2023) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the long jump. He was the oldest living U.S. Olympic medalist prior to his death at the age of 101. Early life and education Dougl ...

on his 85th birthday at a celebration at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.

Athletic achievements

Sowell is best known for winning the gold medal in the men's 800-meter event during the

1955 Pan American Games The 1955 Pan American Games, officially known as II Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1955 (), opened on March 12, 1955, at University Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators. A total ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Sowell also set the world indoor record for the 880-yard run in 1957 at 1:50.3 and tied the world record for the 1,000 yards of 2:08.2 in 1955. He was recognized as a very versatile and talented runner who could run a variety of distances, and even hurdle and long jump. One track coach,

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

's George Eastment, described him as the "greatest runner I ever saw"; another, Carl Olson, felt he could break the four-minute mile. During his career, he had a particular rivalry with his fellow countryman and middle-distance runner, Tom Courtney, the two swapping victories and being involved in many memorable duels. One duel was the 1956 Olympic trials where Courtney held off Sowell to finish first and second with Courtney in the process breaking Sowell's USA record (of 1:46.7) that he had achieved at that year's NCAA meet. During the Olympic final itself, Sowell led from the back straight of the first lap right up to the final turn of the final lap where he was passed by Courtney. As they entered the final straight, Coutney now ahead had his own battle with Derek Johnson who had also passed Sowell, but Sowell had to contend with the challenge of

Audun Boysen Audun Boysen (10 May 1929 – 2 March 2000) was a Norway, Norwegian middle distance track event, middle distance runner. Born in Bjarkøy Municipality, Bjarkøy and raised in Rissa Municipality, Rissa, he first represented Rissa IL and later ...

. Courtney won his battle with Johnson and finished first, but Sowell lost his and finished fourth. Sowell was an excellent runner, indoors as well as outdoors, winning four NCAA titles and establishing a world record 1:50.3 for 880 yards. In 1956, Sowell was a member of teams that set world records in the 4 x 440y and 4 x 880y relays.

Rankings

Sowell was ranked among the best in the United States and the world at 800 metres/880 yards from 1954 to 1957, according to the votes of the experts of ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

''.

USA Championships

Sowell was a very successful competitor at 800 metres/880 yards at the USA National Track and Field Championships between 1955 and 1958.:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowell, Arnie 1935 births Living people American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States University of Pittsburgh alumni Pittsburgh Panthers men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen