James Edwin "Ted" Meredith (November 14, 1891 – November 2, 1957) was an American

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 ...

, winner of two gold medals at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

Biography

Meredith made the 1912 Olympic team shortly after his graduation from Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades in 1911 while he was a student at Mercersburg Academy under Scots-American coach Jimmy Curran. In

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, he won a gold medal in the 800 m run with a

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 ...

1:51.9. He ran on to the 880 yard mark and also set a world record for that distance with a 1:52.5. He won another gold medal on 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 ...

team, also taking fourth in the 400 metres competition. Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades now has the largest repository of Olympic great Meredith memorabilia in existence thanks to Jack Lemon, author of the book ''Immortal of the Cinder Path – The Saga of James 'Ted' Meredith'' who donated his entire collection of Meredith memorabilia recently. After Stockholm, Meredith entered the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He was the

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level coll ...

440 yards champion from 1914 to 1916 and the 880 yard champion in 1914 and 1915. He also won the AAU 440 yard title in 1914 and 1915. In 1916, he set a world record in the 440 yards of 47.4, which wasn't broken until 1928. In the same year, he lowered his own world 880 yard record to 1:52.2. In April 1915, he ran the last lap for the University of Pennsylvania team that broke the world mile relay record. Requiring a time of 48 3/5 seconds, he proceeded to run 48 2/5. Also part of the quartet was Donald Lippincott. Meredith retired from competition in 1917 and served in the army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He made a comeback for the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

, where he was eliminated in the semifinal of the 400 metres competition and ran on the relay team that finished fourth in the 4 × 400 m relay event. After his second retirement from competition, he became a real estate broker but retained an active interest in athletics. In 1924, he attended the

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 Paris as a reporter, working for the Christy Walsh Syndicate. In 1928, he was hired as an assistant coach at the

under Lawson Robertson. In 1936, he attended the

in Berlin as the coach of the

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

team. During 1937 and 1938, he trained the Cuban team for the

Central American Games The Central American Games () are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial (every 4 years), typically in the first year after Summer Olympics. The Games are open for member federations of the Central American Sports Organ ...

Death and funeral

Meredith's funeral service was held in

Haddonfield, New Jersey Haddonfield is a borough (New Jersey), borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,550, an increase of 957 (+8.3%) from the ...

. Attendees were a roll call of early 20th century American and Pennsylvanian sports, including Jimmy Curran, Earl Eby, Donald Lippincott, Sherman Landers, Wallace McCurdy, Larry Brown, Joe Lockwood, Robert Bolger, Joe Berry, Allie Miller, Ed Harter, and Paul Costello.Former Coach, Ex-Stars Attend Meredith Rites, ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', November 8, 1957

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Ted 1891 births 1957 deaths Sportspeople from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Track and field athletes from New Jersey Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania American people of Welsh descent American male sprinters American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field World record setters in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Camden, New Jersey Penn Quakers men's track and field athletes Mercersburg Academy alumni United States Army personnel of World War I Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic coaches 20th-century American sportsmen