Maxwell Lander ("Maxie") Parks (born July 9, 1951) is an American former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

from

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

. Winner of the USA Olympic Trials in 1976, he did not gain a medal in the individual event (he came fifth), but did become a winner of a gold medal in 4 × 400 m Men's relay race with Herman Frazier, Benny Brown, and Fred Newhouse at the 1976 Montreal

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 ...

. In the 1970s he competed for the

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 ...

for several years. In 1977 he ran on the 1977 IAAF Athletics World Cup, anchoring the 4 × 400 m relay team to what appeared to be a runaway victory when he collapsed on the track with a severely pulled hamstring 150 m from the finish. This unfortunate injury denied the USA a seemingly certain victory in the team competition, the victory instead going to East Germany. Parks did not compete again that season, but did return in 1978 to again capture the national title at 400 m. Any hope of Olympic success in 1980 was denied by the USA boycott of those games, but in any event Parks's form meant he only reached the semi-final stage at the Olympic trials.http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf The History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field, R Hymans, USA Track & Field, 2008 Prior to UCLA he was a graduate of

Washington Union High School Washington Union High School is a high school in the rural community of Easton, California, Easton in Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California. Founded in 1892 (and first accredited in 1965), Washington Union is most likely the sec ...

, then

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semeste ...

. In 1979 Parks coached for the

Athletes in Action Athletes in Action (AIA) is an American sports organization founded in 1966. It is the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. History Athletes in Action was started in 1966 by Dave Hannah."Fact Sheet: ...

. Parks was in 2010 honoured as a member of the '100 Stars for 100 Years' for Fresno City College. In the publicity for the event, Parks is stated as having received the honour of being, in 1990, inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. Parks has also been elected into the California Community College Track and Field Hall of Fame

Rankings

Parks was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 400 m/440 y events over the period 1973 to 1978, 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 ...

''.

USA Championships

Parks was a very successful competitor in the US National Championships between 1973 and 1978: A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2003, Track and Field News, Retrieved 18 March 2012.

Best performances

Notes for tables: # world rankings are based on the best time for each athlete. # 440 yard times are converted to 400 metres times by subtracting 0.3 s for manual-timed results.http://speedendurance.com/2007/07/20/440-yard-and-400-meter-racing-facts-and-figures/ 440 Yard and 400 Meter Racing – Facts and Figures # for comparison with automatically timed races, manual times have a factor of 0.14 s added.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Maxie 1951 births Living people American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Arkansas People from Arkansas City, Arkansas Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen