Arthur Charles "Skipper" Blake (January 26, 1872 – October 23, 1944) was an American athlete who competed in the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers ...

and the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad () and commonly known as Athens 1896 (), were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), wh ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Biography

Blake was born on January 26, 1872, in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Blake competed for the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit dedicated to organized sports, with a focus on running, in the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Mar ...

and it was after a 1000-yard race he said in jest ''"I'm too good for Boston, I ought to go over and run the Marathon, at Athens, in the Olympic Games"'', the comment was overheard by

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

Arthur Burnham, who then offered to finance a US team over to Greece. At the 1896 Olympics, the

was run in a single heat, and Blake came in second to

Edwin Flack Edwin Harold Flack (5 November 1873 – 10 January 1935) was an Australian athlete and tennis player. Also known as "Teddy", he was Australia's first Olympian, being its only representative in 1896, and the first Olympic champion in the ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The race was a tight one, as Flack and Blake overtook the then-leader,

Albin Lermusiaux Albin Georges Lermusiaux (9 August 1874 – 20 January 1940) was a French athlete and sport shooter who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Career In total Lermusiaux competed in four different events at the 1896 Summer Olympics, he ...

, in the final straight and ran side-by-side nearly all the way to the finish. Flack proved the quicker, however, and finished in 4:33.2. This was less than a second faster than Blake's time of 4:33.6. He also ran in the final event of the Games, the

. Blake, the only American entrant in the race, was in third place to Lermusiaux and Flack throughout the first half of the race. After 23 kilometres, however, Blake was unable to continue and quit the race. After he stopped competing in athletics he became an insurance salesman and settled down in

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. First settled by E ...

, he was also a keen golfer and sailor. In the 1984

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

, '' The First Olympics: Athens 1896'' he was portrayed by

Alex Hyde-White Alex Hyde-White (born 30 January 1959) is an English-American actor. In 1978, he signed with Universal Pictures as one of the last " contract players" in Hollywood, in a group that included Lindsay Wagner, Andrew Stevens, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gr ...

. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Blake died on October 23, 1944, in

, at the age of 72.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Arthur Athletes (track and field) at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century American sportsmen American male middle-distance runners American male marathon runners 1872 births 1944 deaths Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field People from Haines City, Florida Sportspeople from Polk County, Florida Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Harvard Crimson men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts Track and field athletes from Boston