Larry Jeffery "Mutt" Black (July 20, 1951 – February 8, 2006) was an American sprinter, winner of the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky i ...

and

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 the

200 m 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 ...

at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Black was born in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida, and graduated from Miami Killian Senior High with a scholarship to

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliati ...

. Larry's coach at Miami Killian was Leroy Daniels. While studying there he won the

NCAA 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. ...

championships in 1971. At the 1972 Olympics, Black ran the opening leg in the American 4 × 100 m relay team. The team won a gold medal and equaled the United States' own

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 ...

of 38.19 seconds. His cousin

Gerald Tinker Gerald Alexander Tinker (born January 19, 1951) is an American former track athlete and football player. He won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Early years Gerald Tinker attended Coral Gables Senior ...

, also from the Miami area (rival Coral Gables High School), ran the third leg in that same gold medal winning race. After retiring from sport Black returned to Miami and became director of its parks and recreation department. He died from an aneurysm in Miami on February 8, 2006, at the age of 54.

References

1951 births 2006 deaths Track and field athletes from Miami American male sprinters African-American track and field athletes North Carolina Central Eagles men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Deaths from aneurysm 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub