Arthur Wood Tuck (July 8, 1901 – April 15, 1979) 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. In 1919, he singlehandedly won the

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

state high school track and field team championship for Redmond High School. He later competed for the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

track and field team and represented the United States in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

in Belgium.

Early life

Tuck was born on July 8, 1901, in

Benton, Arkansas Benton is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Arkansas, United States. A suburb of Little Rock, it was established in 1837. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,014, making it the 12th most populous city in Arkansa ...

, the son of John and Kattie Tuck. His family later moved to

Redmond, Oregon Redmond is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The population was 33,274 at the 2020 census, and according to 2023 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 37,009. The city is on the eastern side of Oregon ...

. His father was a public school teacher in Redmond for many years.Grant, Lucas
"The Legend of Arthur Tuck"
''The Bulletin'', Bend, Oregon, May 27, 2014, pp. C1, C4.
SR/Olympic Sports, Sports Reference LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 27, 2014.

High school athlete

Tuck attended high school in Redmond, Oregon. In high school, Tuck was an outstanding track and field athlete. On May 10, 1919, Tuck participated in the Oregon state high school track and field championship, the only athlete competing for Redmond High School. The championship meet included twelve events. Tuck won seven of those events and took second place in another. He earned a total of 38 points in his events. As a result, Redmond High School won the state track and field championship with only one athlete competing."17-Year-Old Boy Athletic Wonder"
''Grants Pass Daily Courier'', Grants Pass, Oregon, May 22, 1919, p. 2."That Other Championship"
''The Bulletin'', Bend, Oregon, May 26, 1937, p. 4. During the state championship meet, Tuck ran in 13 races including preliminary heats to qualify for finals as well as participating in five field events. Tuck won the

100-yard dash The 100-yard dash is a track and field sprint event of . It was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1970, and was included in the triathlon of the Olympics in 1904. It is not generally used in international events, replaced by the 100- ...

220 yard dash 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 ...

, 120 yard hurdles, the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, the discus, the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

, and the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

. He placed second in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Tuck also set three state records at the meet. His records were set in the 100-yard dash, the discus, and the javelin. His javelin throw beat the existing state record by . Oregon newspapers highlighted his performance at the state championship, making him a well-known sports figure across the state."Big Schools Tangle in Rivalry for Tuck"
''Sunday Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, June 1, 1919, p. 4."Tuck Signs with Lemon and Yellow"
''Morning Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, October 2, 1919, p. 13. After graduating from high school in the summer of 1919, Tuck participated in track and field competitions representing the

Multnomah Athletic Club The Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC) is a private social club, social and sports club, athletic club in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1891 as the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club, a coordinating body for team and individual spor ...

, based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. That summer, he placed first in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

junior division javelin competition and third in the senior division. The following summer, he placed fifth in the Amateur Athletic Union's national javelin competition.

College and Olympic Games

Both

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

and the University of Oregon worked hard to recruit Tuck. He decided to attend college at the University of Oregon, where he joined

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Since its founding, Sigma Nu has chartered more than 279 chapters across the United States and Ca ...

fraternity. Tuck competed for the Oregon Webfoots (now Ducks) track and field team. During his time at the University of Oregon, Tuck competed in numerous events including javelin, discus, high jump,

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

high hurdles 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 ...

, and 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 ...

."Clear Skies Augurs Well for Big Meet"
''Morning Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, May 21, 1921, p. 13. While he was a freshman at the University of Oregon, Tuck participated in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Prior to the Olympic competition, Tuck injured his knee. He was still recovering when the team sailed for Antwerp, Belgium. At the Olympics, he finished eleventh in the javelin competition. By 1921, Tuck held the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a collegiate athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (includin ...

discus and javelin records. His best javelin throw was , just short of the American record of . However, he did not return to the university in 1922.

Later life

After leaving the University of Oregon, Tuck joined his brother in the highway construction business. He married Nita How Tuck in the early 1920s. Together, they had three children. Later, Tuck joined the

Oregon State Police The Oregon State Police (OSP) is a Police, law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. The OSP enforces all of Oregon's criminal laws and assists local law enforcement agencies. Casey Codding has served as Superintendent (police), Superi ...

. Beginning in the 1930s, he was the sergeant in charge of the

Central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards t ...

patrol area. On November 7, 1937, Sergeant Tuck and Officer Elmer R. Pyle were dispatched to investigate a possible

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

on an isolated chicken ranch near Terrebonne. As the two officers approached, the suspect pulled out a shotgun and shot Pyle in the face. The suspect was killed in the gun battle that followed. Pyle died of his wounds seven months later., ''Oregon State Police Memorial'', Oregon State Police Fallen Trooper Memorial, Salem, Oregon, 2014. After Tuck retired from the police force, his track and field medals and

memorabilia A souvenir (French language, French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memory, memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collecte ...

were stolen in a burglary. He died in Redmond, Oregon on April 15, 1979.

Legacy

It is likely that Tuck is the only athlete in Oregon history to have won a state track and field team championship singlehandedly. Today, Tuck's scrapbook and photographs are held by the

Des Chutes Historical Museum The Deschutes Historical Museum is a museum of local history that is located in the historic Reid School in Bend, Oregon. Opened in 1980 and operated by the Deschutes County Historical Society, the museum's exhibits focus on the area's prehist ...

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

References

External links

List of American athletes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Arthur 1901 births 1979 deaths People from Redmond, Oregon People from Benton, Arkansas Track and field athletes from Arkansas Track and field athletes from Oregon American male javelin throwers Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes Oregon police officers 20th-century American sportsmen