Charley Paddock

Charles Paddock after the 1920 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Charles William Paddock
Born	(1900-08-11)August 11, 1900[1] Gainesville, Texas, U.S.[1]
Died	July 21, 1943(1943-07-21) (aged 42)[1] Sitka, Alaska, U.S.[1]
Height	5 ft 7+1⁄2 in (171 cm)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Spouse	Neva Prisk Malaby (m. 1930)
Sport
Sport	Track
Events	100 m, 200 m
College team	University of Southern California
Club	Los Angeles Athletic Club
Coached by	Dean Cromwell (USC) John F. Moakley (20 Olympics) Lawson Robertson (24-28 Olympics)
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	100 m – 10.2 (1921) 200 m – 21.0 (1923)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1920 Antwerp 100 m 1920 Antwerp 4 × 100 m relay 1920 Antwerp 200 m 1924 Paris 200 m Universiade 1923 Paris 100 m 1923 Paris 200 m

Charles William Paddock was an American track star who competed for the University of Southern California and was a two-time Olympic sprinting champion. In his professional career, he was a nationally-known sports journalist and eventually managed a string of newspapers. In 1981, he was portrayed in the award-winning film about the 1924 games, Chariots of Fire.

Early life

Paddock was born in Gainesville, Texas, to Charles Hurd Paddock and Lulu (Robinson) Paddock. His family moved to Pasadena, California, when he was a child. He attended Throop Polytechnic from the 2nd through 8th grades. When his uncanny running speed became apparent, school officials had to overcome his father's objections to his competing.^[2]

Paddock attended Pasadena High School from 1915–18. On April 8, 1916, as a freshman, he won the 100 and 220 at the California State Meet. On April 28, 1917, at State, he finished a close 2nd in the 100 (one of two races he lost in high school), and won the 220. On April 27, 1918, at State, as a junior, Paddock won the 100 and 220, and P.H.S. won the team competition.

He skipped his senior year to attend the University of Southern California.

1920 Antwerp Olympics

In 1920, Paddock represented his country at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp under Head Olympic Coach John F. Moakley, who coached track at Cornell for fifty years.^[7] In Belgium, he had his greatest successes, winning the 100 m final, while placing second in the 200 m event. With the American 4 × 100 m relay team, Paddock won a third Olympic medal. Paddock became well known for his unusual finishing style, leaping towards the finish line at the end of the race.^[8]

In 1921 year, he ran the 110 yd dash, which is slightly more than 100 m, in 10.2 seconds. It was not until 1956 that the world record for the 100 m became lower than Paddock's time over 110 yard. Paddock broke or equaled several other world records over Imperial distances.^[8]

1924, 1928 Olympics

Under the management of Coach Lawson Robertson^[9] at the 1924 Paris Olympics, Paddock again qualified for both the 100 and 200 m finals, but he was less successful than four years earlier. Paddock finished 5th in the 100 m and won another silver medal in the 200 m., and was not a part of the American relay team. In Chariots of Fire, the 1981 Oscar-winning film about those races, Paddock was portrayed by Dennis Christopher.

Again under the management of Lawson Robertson in 1928, Paddock participated in his 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, running a 22.1 in the semi-final of the 200m sprint, but did not reach the final. Percy Williams of Canada took the gold with a time of 21.8, Walter Rangley of Great Britain took the silver with a time of 21.9, Helmut Kornig took the Bronze with a time of 21.9.^[10]

1932 attempted comeback

In July 1929, Paddock announced his retirement from running in a syndicated news article.^[11] By early 1930, he'd changed his mind and started aiming at making his 4th Olympic team.^[12] It didn't work out, and at the Olympics Trials, July 15–16, 1932, he was merely a spectator.

Writing career

Paddock aspired to be an author from an early age.^[13] While a 13-year-old 8th grader at Throop Polytechnic, his local Pasadena Star described him as “writing a number of stories that have won high praise from his teachers and friends.”^[13] Two of those stories were published in the paper on December 24 and 29, 1913.^[14] He also edited Throop’s school paper, Elementary Life.^[15][2]

The following June, he impressed all concerned by dramatizing Sir Walter Scott’s narrative poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel. He also acted in the performance. The News lauded him as “the youngest dramatist in Pasadena, if not the entire state.”^[13] He followed up with dramatizations of Scott’s The Lady of the Lake and Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. For these plays he “organized, costumed and drilled companies of boys and girls of his own age and older for the presentation of these dramatizations before audiences of his elders numbering hundreds.”^[15]

At Pasadena High, he participated in debate and oration contests. For example, on April 24, 1917, as a sophomore, he won a prize for his speech on “Alcohol and Labor.”^[16]

At USC, he wrote for the Daily Trojan, serving as editor-in-chief for the 1920–21 school year.^[17]

After attending the Inter-Allied Games, Paris, in 1919, he wrote a 10-part series about the event for the Pasadena Star-News.^[18] He followed up with two 4-part series on postwar conditions abroad.^[19] He continued as an occasional sports reporter for the Star-News. A highlight was his 12-part report on the Antwerp Olympics.^[20] He joined the staff of the Star-News in this period.^[21]

As early as 1921, he started a long record of appearing in mass-market magazines like Leslie's, Scientific American, and Physical Culture, generally writing about track and fitness. He eventually appeared in the most popular magazines, like the Saturday Evening Post and Collier's.

After the first semester of his senior year at USC, in January 1922 he graduated with a B.A. in English. He took a break from running to devote his time to writing.^[22] He began producing sports reports for other area newspapers.

His career arc was more or less set. He wrote hundreds of articles and columns for the Star-News, while occasionally appearing in other local newspapers, and national magazines. When his reporting had broader interest, his articles were syndicated nationwide.

Paddock married Neva Prisk Malaby on December 11, 1930, at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Prisk.^[4][23] Prisk published the Star-News, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and other local papers. Neva had a son from a previous marriage, Charles Prisk Malaby (1924–2007); Paddock and Neva had one child together, Charles William Paddock, Jr. (1931–2024).

Paddock published his memoirs twice. The first was Flying Feet, serialized in six parts by Sport Story Magazine (March 8–May 22, 1928). The second was his book The Fastest Human (1932). His only other book was Track and Field (1933), a technique manual.

Following the death of the business manager on March 15, 1933, on April 1 Paddock became business manager of Prisk’s Long Beach Press-Telegram.^[24] In August, he was elected a director of the Press-Telegram Publishing Company.^[25] He continued to write regularly for the papers while serving in management.

After Charles H. Prisk died on March 4, 1940, Paddock was elected vice president and general manager of Prisk’s newspapers. He was essentially editor-in-chief though the title was left in Prisk’s name to honor his memory.^[21]

Death and honors

On July 10, 1942, Paddock was commissioned a captain in the USMC. He said he picked the Marines to "see plenty of action."^[26] On July 21, 1943, Major General William P. Upshur, his aide Paddock, and four others, died in a plane crash near Sitka, Alaska. Paddock is interred at Sitka National Cemetery.^[10][27][28]

In 1976 Paddock was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.^[29] In 1919, the University of Southern California established a scholarship in his name.^[30]

Miscellany

In 1926, Paddock appeared in The Campus Flirt, a black-and-white silent film (now lost) featuring another Texas native, Paramount starlet Bebe Daniels.^[31]

Selected competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Pasadena High School
1916	California State Meet	Los Angeles	1st	100 y	10.4
1916	California State Meet	Los Angeles	1st	220 y	22.4
1917	California State Meet	Berkeley	2nd	100 y	~10.0
1917	California State Meet	Berkeley	1st	220 y	22.0
1918	California State Meet	Sacramento	1st	100 y	10.2
1918	California State Meet	Sacramento	1st	220 y	22.4
Representing USC
1921	Southern California AAU	Redlands, California	1st	100 m	10.4 WR
Representing  United States
1919	Inter-Allied Games	Paris, France	1st	100 m	10.8
1919	Inter-Allied Games	Paris	1st	200 m	21.6
1919	Inter-Allied Games	Paris	1st	4x200 m relay	1:30.8
1920	Olympics	Antwerp, Belgium	1st	100 m	10.8
1920	Olympics	Antwerp	2nd	200 m	22.0
1920	Olympics	Antwerp	1st	4x100 m relay	42.2 WR
1923	Universiade	Paris	1st	100 m	10.4
1923	Universiade	Paris	1st	200 m	21.0
1924	Olympics	Paris	5th	100 m	10.9
1924	Olympics	Paris	2nd	200 m	21.7
1928	Olympics	Amsterdam, Netherlands	4th (semi)	200 m	22.1
independent
1924	Drake Relays	Des Moines, Iowa	1st	100 y	9.6 =WR

* WR=World Record

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Paddock.

• Charles William Paddock from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Charley Paddock at World Athletics
• Charley Paddock at the USATF Hall of Fame (archived)
• Charley Paddock at the Team USA Hall of Fame (archive July 20, 2023)
• Charley Paddock at Olympics.com
• Charley Paddock at Olympedia
• Charley Paddock at IMDb 
• Charley Paddock at Find a Grave
• CharlesPaddock.com at the Wayback Machine (archived April 14, 2012)