Clancy Edwards (born August 9, 1955) is an American retired

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 ...

sprinter. He was considered one of the best sprinters in the world between 1974 and 1978. He won the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a 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 the race. A slight ...

at the

1977 IAAF World Cup The 1st IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held from 2 to 4 September 1977, at the Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, West Germany. Ove ...

, the most important meet of that year, defeating future World Record holder

Pietro Mennea Pietro Paolo Mennea (; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200 m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a wor ...

Early life

While in high school, he ran for

Santa Ana High School Santa Ana High School is the oldest and largest high school in Orange County, California, United States. The school was established in 1889. Notable alumni * Daniel Antúnez, soccer player * Barry Asher, professional bowler * Tony Baxter form ...

. His 21.32 (converted from a hand time of 21.2) for 220 yards, winning the 1973

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

, was the best time in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

for 12 years. He was also 2nd in 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- ...

Collegiate career and international success

Edwards began his collegiate career at Cal Poly in 1974, running for their track team, the

Cal Poly Mustangs The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The university fields twenty teams and competes in NCAA D ...

(where he won titles under the tutelage of coach Steve Simmons). In August 1975, he won the CCAA Athlete of the Year Award for all sports. During an era when Division II-attending competitors could also advance up to the Division I NCAA Championships, Edwards came in third place at the 1975 Division I finals at BYU in the 220 yards, clocking an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n time of 20.61 seconds. He missed out on the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

because of injury. In 1977, he transferred as a junior to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. While at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

he was one of the best sprinters in the world, helping them to the Pac-8 collegiate championship. Also in 1977, Edwards won the first of his two double British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title wins in the 100 metres and 200 metres event at the 1977 AAA Championships. He was ranked (see below) in the American top ten at 200 metres five times between 1974 and 1979 including #1 in 1977 and 1978. Worldwide those rankings were not much different, ranking #1 in 1978 and #3 in 1977 behind Mennea and Olympic Champion Don Quarrie. And he was #2 worldwide in 1978 at 100 metres. Edwards' fastest time over 100 metres was 10.07 seconds, set at

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

in June 1978. In that year, Edwards achieved the remarkable 'double-double' of winning the 100 and 200 m events at both the NCAA (United States collegiate) and AAU (United States National) Championships. He was the first to do this since

Hal Davis Harold Edward Davis (February 8, 1933 – November 18, 1998) was an American songwriter and record producer. Davis was a producer and writer for Motown Records for nearly thirty years, and was a key figure in the latter part of the Motown ...

in 1943. That same year he also recorded the world's best yearly performance in the men's 200 metres at the dual meet against crosstown rival

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Westwood, Los Angeles Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCL ...

, clocking 20.03 on April 29, 1978. In both 1977 and 1978 he was awarded the Pac-10 Track Athlete of the Year. Also in 1978, Edwards ran the anchor leg of a University of Southern California team (with Joel Andrews, James Sanford and William Mullins) that broke the world record in 4 × 200 m relay event with a time of 1.20.26 at

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

on 27 May. They broke the record even though they came second in the race. The team that won from the Tobias Striders track team was multi-national and so was not eligible to hold the record; that team of Guy Abrahams, Michael Simmons, Don Quarrie and

James Gilkes James Wren Gilkes (born 21 September 1952) is a former sprinter from Guyana who specialised in the 200 metres. He competed at two Olympic Games. Career He was the 1975 Pan American 200 metre champion, and in 1979 he took the silver medal ...

recorded a time of 1.20.23. Injury ruined his 1979 season, although he did win another sprint double at the British

1979 AAA Championships The 1979 AAA Championships sponsored by Nationwide was the 1979 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 13 to 14 July 1979 at the Crystal Palace National S ...

. The following year, the United States boycott of the 1980 Olympics meant he lacked the motivation to re-find his best form and to carry on with his track career post-1980 onto the next Olympics.

Track and field rankings

Edwards was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 100 yard/100 metre and 200 yard/200 metre sprint events in the period 1974-79, 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 ...

''.

References

External links

1978 Year Rankings

1975 Pan American 4 x 100 metres relay final
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Clancy 1955 births Living people American male sprinters Track and field athletes from Phoenix, Arizona Sportspeople from Santa Ana, California Track and field athletes from Orange County, California USC Trojans men's track and field athletes Cal Poly Mustangs men's track and field athletes USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen

Early life

Collegiate career and international success

Track and field rankings

See also

References

External links