Walter Thane Baker (born October 4, 1931) is an American former sprinter and winner of the gold medal 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 ...

at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

, with a new world record of 39.5 seconds. At those Olympics Baker also won a silver medal in the 100-meter and a bronze in the 200-meter. At the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, he won a silver medal in the 200-meter.

Biography

Baker was born in

Elkhart, Kansas Elkhart is a city in and the county seat of Morton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,888. The southern edge of the city is the Kansas-Oklahoma state border, and the city is from the Kans ...

. In 1953, as a

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

student, Baker 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. ...

championship in the , and in 1956 he won the AAU championships in 200 m. Baker also won numerous conference titles at Kansas State, and was a four-time

All America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n. Before the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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

, Baker equaled

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...

's long-standing 100 m

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 ...

time of 10.2 seconds, and also twice equaled the 200 m world record of 20.6. He tied the world record in the 100 yd in 9.3 seconds, twice tied the world record in 60 yd indoor events at 6.1 seconds, and set the world record in the 300 yd at 29.4 seconds. He co-held several world records in relays. After turning forty, Baker participated in the Masters Track and Field program and held numerous

world records 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 ...

in the 100 yd, 100 m, 220 y, 200 m, and several relays in the age groups categories of 40–44, 45–49, and 50–54 years of age. Baker is enshrined in the

USATF Masters Hall of Fame The USATF Masters Hall of Fame is the Masters section of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. It is intended to select worthy athletes from the various divisions of Masters athletics involved in the sports of track and field, road running an ...

and the

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and t ...

. He is also in the Kansas State University Sports Hall of Fame and the Kansas State High School Activities Hall of Fame. In 1978, he was named a "Silver Athletics Top Ten" for personal achievement. He began as a track meet "starter" in 1959 and has started NCAA National Championships and National Federation Championships. The year 2010 was his forty-fourth year of serving at the Texas Relays. He was selected "Outstanding Official" by the Texas Relays Committee in 2010 and inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2011. He also has the track named after him in his home town of Elkhart, Kansas. He retired in 1983 as a colonel from the United States Air Force after serving thirty years of active and reserve status. Additionally, in 1992, he retired from Mobil Research and Development after thirty-nine years of employment. His civic involvement included serving as president of a Rotary Club chapter, a member of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association board of directors, the United States Olympians board of directors, and volunteered on other boards and associations. Thane Baker's daughter, Catherine Baker Nicholson JD, wrote a book about his first Olympics called Running in Borrowed Shoes: Thane Baker and the 1956 Summer Games, which Texas Christian University Press published in Summer 2024. Because he did not expect to make the 1952 Olympic team, Baker competed in the Men's 200 meters and won a silver medal wearing borrowed socks and borrowed shoes. BYUtv produced a video about Thane Baker's experiences in 2024. Baker is the oldest living United States Olympic medalist in track, and ranks third in the world in the same category.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Thane 1931 births Living people People from Elkhart, Kansas Track and field athletes from Kansas Kansas State Wildcats men's track and field athletes American male sprinters World record setters in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletic directors American referees and umpires Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics American masters athletes NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen