Forrest Orren Beaty (born September 5, 1944) is a retired 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 memorable for setting the National High School record in the straight 220 yard dash, a race slightly longer than the

200 metres straight The 200 metres straight is a track and field outdoor event of 200 metres on a straight track. In the 1960s, the straight 200 metres was a separate world record event for men until IAAF deleted this variation from its list of official records. Th ...

. It is the longest standing record on the books, although mostly because that distance is not run anymore. His record time, set on a

cinder track A cinder track is a type of race track, generally purposed for track and field or horse racing, whose surface is composed of cinders. For running tracks, many cinder surfaces have been replaced by all-weather synthetic surfaces, which provide g ...

in 1961 as a high school junior at Herbert Hoover High School in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

was hand timed at 20.2 and equaled the world record for the imperially measured distance. Later in his high school career, he also set the record for 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- ...

at 9.4, just .2 off the world record in that event. He was also spectacular on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

field for the school. He won both races at the

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 ...

(coming out of the tunnel at

East Los Angeles College East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communiti ...

) in 1961, repeating in the 100y in 1962. He was named the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CI ...

Athlete of the Year in 1962, the same award he shared with future Olympic Champion

Ulis Williams Ulis C. Williams (born October 24, 1941) is an American former athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 400 meter relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He later served as President of Compton Community College in Compton, California, from 1996 t ...

in 1961. He was also ''

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 ...

'' High School Athlete of the year in 1962. After graduating, Beaty ran for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and was part of their

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

mile relay The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...

team in 1964 and repeated in 1965. His hand-timed, converted 440 yard time, which equalled

Grover Klemmer Grover Haines Klemmer Jr. (March 16, 1921 – August 23, 2015) was an American sprinter, college football player and coach, and National Football League (NFL) official. At the University of California, he lettered in football, basketball and tr ...

's former world record is still ranked tied for the #3 time on the school's all time list. He also briefly played

as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, gaining all of 4 yards in four attempts. He participated in the 1964

Olympic Trials Olympic trials are competitions held in certain sports to select teams' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. History Before 1908, members of United States Olympic teams were selected without trials. The 1908 and 1912 teams were s ...

, in the

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

, failing to qualify. Rather than pursuing his career in the sport, he focused on his medical education at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

. After serving residency with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, Beaty established his practice in

Forestville, California Forestville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, California, United States. It was settled during the late 1860s and was originally spelled Forrestville after one of its founders. The spelling long ago b ...

. He contributed to writing a medical guide "End-of-life-care: A Practical Guide."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaty, Forrest 1944 births Living people American male sprinters California Golden Bears men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Glendale, California Track and field athletes from California People from Forestville, California Sportspeople from Sonoma County, California University of California, San Francisco alumni NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen