Arthur Harold "Art" Harnden (May 20, 1924 – September 30, 2016) was an American

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

, winner of the gold medal in the 4 × 400 m

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. He was born in

Lavaca County, Texas Lavaca County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,337. Its county seat is Hallettsville. The county was created in 1846. It is named for the Lavaca River, which curves its way sou ...

. At the London

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Harnden ran the opening leg in the gold medal winning American 4 × 400 m

relay team A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of Race track, racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in runni ...

. Competing for the

Texas A&M Aggies track and field The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referred to as "A&M" or "Texa ...

team, Harnden placed 2nd in the 400 m at the 1948 NCAA Track and Field Championships, and on a combined "South" team he won the 4 × 440 yard relay at the 1947 championships.

References

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Arthur Harden's obituary
1924 births 2016 deaths American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Texas A&M Aggies men's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub