Walter Pritchard
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Walter Herbert Pritchard (April 14, 1910,
Hancock, New York Hancock is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The town contains a village, also named Hancock. The town is in the southwest part of the county. The population was 2,764 at the 2020 census. The town is the largest by area in De ...
– August 31, 1982) was an American
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 ...
Olympian and
cardiologist Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...
. He is credited with contributing to the science of cardiac resuscitation and defibrillation to restart the human heart.


Athletic career

Pritchard broke the American record in the 3000 meter steeplechase on July 16, 1932 while qualifying for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Fordham's Joseph McCluskey won the trials that day and ultimately held the American record. Pritchard would go on to finish eighth in the Olympics later that summer in a race that is considered one of the biggest errors in Olympic history. Officials incorrectly counted the number of laps completed and forced runners to complete an extra lap. In honor of Pritchard, Hamilton College, where Pritchard attended college, named the track and field facility after him.


Cardiology career

He graduated from
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
. After college Pritchard became a preeminent cardiologist. He helped develop the science of cardiac resuscitation and defibrillation to restart the human heart. During his career he was Director of Cardiology and Chief of Staff at the
University Hospitals of Cleveland University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UH Cleveland Medical Center), formerly known as ''University Hospitals Case Medical Center'' (''UH Case Medical Center''), is a large not-for-profit academic medical complex in Cleveland, Ohio, Un ...
and Argyl J. Beams Professor of Medicine at the
Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Walter 1910 births 1982 deaths American cardiologists American male steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics People from Delaware County, New York Hamilton College (New York) alumni Harvard Medical School alumni Olympic track and field athletes for the United States 20th-century American sportsmen