Tom Moore (April 14, 1914 in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

– May 10, 2002) was a

National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

promoter, known for his decades of service as meet director of the Modesto Relays. As a hurdler for the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, Moore tied the world record in the 120 yard high hurdles (the Imperial distance equivalent to the

110 metre hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten ...

) at 14.2. Prior to running a Berkeley, he had run for

Sacramento City College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community ...

where he was coached by L.D. Weldon and at Petaluma High School. Both became early members of that institution's Hall of Fame. He was the 1935 United States Champion in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. Sports Illustrated shows a picture of him in

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during the 1935 European season, helping carry injured sprinting prodigy Eulace Peacock off the track. Moore competed for the Olympic Club in the high hurdles and 220 yard hurdles into the 1940s. Toward the end of his running career in 1942, he was asked to help with a start up track and field event at Modesto Junior College. Moore served as the starter for the first meet for all but one race . . . the high hurdles, which he won. He had his running shorts on under his uniform and hastily changed to run. He gained a reputation as a top track and field official. For most of its 67-year run in Modesto Moore's name would go on to become synonymous with the event called the Modesto Relays. Moore did almost everything else to make the meet what it became, from attracting top name talent to adjusting the lights toward the track (rather than just the football field). Moore found sponsorship from S&W Foods that brought notoriety to the otherwise sleepy Central Valley town. When S&W dropped its sponsorship in 1994, Moore found a new sponsor in

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

. At that first meet in 1942, "Dutch" Warmerdam set a world record in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

with a bamboo pole. More than a decade later, Double Olympic Gold medalist,

Bob Richards Robert Eugene Richards (February 20, 1926 – February 26, 2023) was an American athlete, minister, and politician. He made three U.S. Olympic Teams in two events: the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Summer Olympics as a pole vaulter and as a decathlete ...

negotiated a $75 cash bonus, if he broke the meet record, which Moore agreed to. When Richards arrived, he discovered the meet record was the world record, which he never achieved in his career. He served as head of the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

's task force to select a bidding city for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He was elected into the

as an Event Director in 1988. In 2007, he was given the Howard Schmertz Lifetime Achievement Award by the U.S. Track Meet Directors Association. After his death in 2004, the Modesto Relays was renamed the "Tom Moore Modesto Relays."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Tom 1914 births 2002 deaths American male hurdlers American referees and umpires Athletics (track and field) officials California Golden Bears men's track and field athletes World record setters in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Berkeley, California Sportspeople from Modesto, California Track and field athletes from California Track and field people from California Petaluma High School alumni Sportspeople from Petaluma, California 20th-century American sportsmen