David Donald Albritton (April 13, 1913 – May 14, 1994) was an American athlete, teacher, coach, and state legislator. He had a long athletic career that spanned three decades and numerous titles and was one of the first

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 ...

ers to use the straddle technique. He was born in

Danville, Alabama Danville is an unincorporated community in Morgan County, Alabama Morgan County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, its population was 123,421. The county seat is Decatur. On June 14 ...

Athletic career

As a sophomore at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, Albritton won the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 1936. In 1936, Albritton and Cornelius Johnson both cleared 6 ft 9 in (2.07 m) to set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

at the Olympic Trials, becoming the first people of African descent to hold the world record in the event. Albritton was second to Johnson at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, with a height of 6 ft 6 in (2.00 m). He claimed the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in a jump-off after he and two other jumpers cleared the same height. Albritton and Johnson were snubbed by

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

when they went to collect their medals. In 2016, the 1936 Olympic journey of the eighteen Black American athletes, including Albritton and

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...

was documented in the film '' Olympic Pride, American Prejudice''. Albritton won or tied for seven National

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 ...

outdoor titles from 1936 to 1950. He was AAU outdoor champion in 1937, 1946, and 1947 and tied for three national collegiate titles, in 1938, 1945, and 1950.

Coaching and political career

Albritton later became a high school teacher and coach. He served in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

for six terms. In 1980, he was inducted into the

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national Sport governing body, governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was kn ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Legacy

A historic marker honoring Albritton was unveiled on July 12, 2013, Danville, Alabama.

References

Wallechinsky, David David Wallechinsky (born David Wallace, February 5, 1948) is an American popular historian and television commentator, the co-founder and past president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the founder and editor-in-chie ...

(2004). ''The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics'',

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

: Sport Classic Books. *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albritton, Dave 1913 births 1994 deaths American male high jumpers African-American track and field athletes American athlete-politicians Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio State Buckeyes men's track and field athletes Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field People from Morgan County, Alabama Track and field athletes from Alabama Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics 20th-century African-American politicians NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly