Jackson Volney Scholz (March 15, 1897 – October 26, 1986) was an American sprint runner. In the 1920s, he became the first person to appear in an Olympic sprint final in three different

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. After his athletic career, he also gained fame as a writer. Born to Susan and Zachary Scholz in

Buchanan, Michigan Buchanan is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,300 at the 2020 census. The city is located at the southeast corner of Buchanan Township, about west of Niles. History The community was named after Ja ...

, Jackson Scholz, nicknamed "The New York Thunderbolt", competed for the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

(where he joined

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha, KA, or simply The Order, is an American social fraternity founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Along with Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu, the order constitu ...

), and later the New York Athletic Club. While quite successful in the Olympics, he won only a single national title, the 220 yards AAU title in 1925. His first Olympic appearance was in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in 1920, where he won a gold medal with the American 4 × 100 m relay team. Individually he placed fourth in the 100 m. Later that year, Scholz equaled the World Record in the 100 m, running 10.6 s in Stockholm. Four years later, he was one of the favorites for the sprint titles in the 100 and 200 m. He lived up to the expectations in the 200 m, but was beaten to the gold in the 100 m by Britain's

Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Early life and educati ...

. The 100 m race, and the 400 m race won by

Eric Liddell Eric Henry Liddell (; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a Scottish sprint (running), sprinter, Rugby union, rugby player and Christian missionary. Born in Qing dynasty, Tianjin, China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended bo ...

, are depicted in the movie ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

'', which was released in 1981 – five years before Scholz's death at the age of 89. He was played in the film by actor Brad Davis. Jackson Scholz 1928

Scholz made a third Olympic appearance in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

. As the reigning champion, he placed fourth in the 200 m. During the 1984

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

, an

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

credit card commercial80's Commercials Vol. 136
YouTube ("Don't leave home without it") included

Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire'' and for playing Billy Flynn in the or ...

and the 87-year-old Scholz. When Cross—who portrayed Abrahams in the film ''

''—said something about beating Scholz, the latter remarked, "''You'' didn't beat me!" with mock indignation. Proving he was "still pretty fast," Scholz beat Cross to the draw in picking up the tab with his credit card.

References

External links

* * * *
Some books written by Jackson Volney Scholz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scholz, Jackson 1897 births 1986 deaths American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from Michigan Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field University of Missouri alumni Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics People from Buchanan, Michigan 20th-century American sportsmen