Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #142 - Lee Evans

Lee Evans

USA

Athletics

Overall Rankings

#42 among American Olympians

#38 among Track & Field Athletes

#29 among Males Track & Field Athletes

#24 among American Track & Field Athletes

#19 among Male American Track & Field Athletes

Olympic Results

1968

400m - Gold

4x400m Relay - Gold

Total

Events - 2

Gold - 2

Lee Edward Evans was born on February 25, 1947 in Madera, California. He was undefeated in high school, then won 4 straight AAU championships in the 440 yard race, and also won the 400m NCAA title in 1968.

His first world record came as part of a 4x400m relay team in 1966, the first team to break 3 minutes in the event. In 1967, he set a world record in the 400m at the Pan Am Games, becoming the first man to break 45 seconds.

He qualified for both events in the 1968 Olympics, setting a world record of 44.06 seconds in the 400m at the Olympic trials. After his teammates Tommie Smith and John Carlos were kicked out of the Olympics for raising their fists during the 200m medal ceremony, Evans wanted to withdraw in protest, but they convinced him to stay, and he set another new world record in winning the gold medal, finishing in 43.8 seconds, a record that would stand for 20 years.

A couple of days later, in the 4x400m relay, he anchored the team that tied the Olympic record in the preliminary round, then they shattered the record in the final, finishing in 2 minutes, 56.1 seconds, 3.5 seconds ahead of the silver medalists from Kenya, which was about 30 meters on the track. That record stood until 1992.

He won the AAU title again in 1972, then qualified for the Olympic team as part of the relay, having just fallen short in the trials for the individual event. However, he never got to run in those Olympics, as two other members of the team were kicked out after refusing to pay attention to the flag during the medal ceremony of the 400m a couple of days earlier.

He turned pro after the 1972 Olympics, and even set the world record in the indoor 600m race, but he would never race again in the Olympics. He went on to become the head of track programs for 6 different African nations before returning to the US to coach college track. He later went to Nigeria to coach, and it was there that he passed away on May 19, 2021 at age 74.

Evans only competed in two Olympic events in his career, but in both he set new world records that would stand for decades, and for that he deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time.