Ronald John Freeman III (born June 12, 1947 in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.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 ...

. At the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

, Freeman won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

and a bronze medal in the 400 meters. Freeman ran the second leg on the American 4 × 400 m relay team, which won the gold medal with a new

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 2.56.16. His relay leg time (43.2s) was the fastest 4 × 400 meter relay leg ever run and his time stood for more than 25 years. Raised in Elizabeth, Freeman attended Thomas Jefferson High School. Freeman finished second behind Adrian Metcalfe in the 440 yards event at the British 1963 AAA Championships.

Awards

In August 2017, Freeman received the Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development in recognition of his community service efforts and work with youth.

Notes

References

1947 births Living people American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey Thomas Jefferson High School (New Jersey) alumni Track and field athletes from New Jersey Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics 20th-century American sportsmen Arizona State Sun Devils men's track and field athletes {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub