48 Facts About Eddie Tolan

Eddie Tolan set world records in the 100-yard dash and 100 meters event and Olympic records in the 100 meters and 200 meters events.

Eddie Tolan was the first non-Euro-American to receive the title of the "world's fastest human" after winning gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters events at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

In March 1935, Tolan won the 75,100 and 220-yard events at the World Professional Sprint Championships in Melbourne to become the first man to win both the amateur and professional world sprint championships.

Eddie Tolan was born in Denver, Colorado, one of four children.

The family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when Eddie Tolan was young, and moved again to Detroit, Michigan in 1924, when Eddie Tolan was 15 years old.

Eddie Tolan attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit where he was an outstanding football player and sprinter.

Aged 16, Eddie Tolan was a member of a two-man team from Cass Tech that won the 1925 National Interscholastic indoor meet in Chicago.

Eddie Tolan won his first sprint double at the state meet as a sophomore, and in 1927 he won the 100 and 220-yard dashes at the National Interscholastic Championship at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Eddie Tolan was recruited by several major universities as a football player, but he chose the University of Michigan.

At Michigan, Eddie Tolan ran track under the mentorship of two of the great sprinters of their generations.

Eddie Tolan was one of the first African-Americans to have success in sprinting, and he raced with eyeglasses taped to his head.

Eddie Tolan smiled often, raced while chewing gum, and could be easily identified by a bandage around his left knee to protect an old football injury.

Eddie Tolan chewed gum before a race to relieve stress.

Eddie Tolan later began chewing gum as part of his routine, chewing the gum faster when he needed to accelerate his leg movements.

At the Big Ten championships in May 1930, Eddie Tolan broke the world's record in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.5.

Eddie Tolan's performance was accepted by the International Amateur Athletic Federation as the new official world's record.

Seven weeks after breaking the world's record in the 100-yard dash, Eddie Tolan broke the world's record in the 100 meters race.

Southern California sprinter Frank Wykoff jumped to a slight lead, but Eddie Tolan came from behind to pass Wykoff at the 100-yard mark.

Eddie Tolan is a slow starter, but when the weather gets warm so does Eddie, and off he goes.

Eddie Tolan is 24 years of age, five feet six inches tall and weights about 130 pounds.

Eddie Tolan is well muscled, though, and in action gives the impression of great running power, with his arms and legs working smoothly and strongly in a machine piston-like manner.

The Olympic trials were held at Stanford University, and Ralph Metcalfe won both the 100 and 200 meters finals, with Eddie Tolan finishing second to Metcalfe in each case.

Eddie Tolan broke the Olympic record in the first heat of the second round with a time of 10.4 seconds, but Metcalfe remained the favorite.

Eddie Tolan passed Yoshioka at the 60 meter mark and had a two-yard lead over Metcalfe at the 100-yard mark.

Eddie Tolan, his left knee in an elastic bandage and his glasses taped to his head near his ears, dug in for one last desperate stride in his effort to hold the lead.

Just at the tape, Metcalfe rushed past Eddie Tolan and was well ahead a yard beyond the finish.

Eddie Tolan stumbled slightly with three yards to go, but righted himself and finished with a four-foot lead.

Eddie Tolan's mother noted, that she was proud of her son's accomplishments.

Eddie Tolan noted that, though she had worked hard as the sole provider for the family, it was worth it.

Less than six months after winning Olympic gold medals and the title of the "world's fastest human," Eddie Tolan garnered national press when he fell on hard times.

Eddie Tolan noted that, when he was met at the train station by a welcoming committee, his half-brother was collecting waste paper in the grass of the park in front of the train station.

Eddie Tolan noted that his half-brother was "luckier than I am," because he had a job.

Eddie Tolan's parents had both been unemployed for many months, and it was not until January 1933 that Tolan was able to get a low-paying job as a filing clerk in a county office.

Desperate to earn a living, Eddie Tolan "walked the streets of many cities, seeking work," and even briefly appeared in vaudeville in 1932 with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

In November 1934, Eddie Tolan took a leave of absence from his job as assistant county registrar of deeds to compete in the Australian sprint program, a series of five professional races, including the Stawell Gift handicap.

Eddie Tolan returned in April 1935 after having set new Australian records of 21.5 seconds in the 220-yard dash on a full curve track and 7.5 seconds for the 75-yard dash.

Eddie Tolan won the 75,100, and 220-yard events at the World Professional Sprint Championships in March 1935 in Melbourne, and became the first man to win both the amateur and professional world sprint championships.

Eddie Tolan worked at a variety of jobs in the 1940s and 1950s.

In 1956, Eddie Tolan became a school teacher in physical and health education.

Eddie Tolan taught at the Irving Elementary School on Detroit's West Side for several years.

In 1965, Eddie Tolan's kidneys failed, and he was required to undergo weekly dialysis treatments for the rest of his life.

In 1967, Eddie Tolan died from heart failure at age 58 at Detroit's Mt.

Eddie Tolan is interred at United Memorial Gardens in Plymouth, Michigan.

In 1958, Eddie Tolan was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

Eddie Tolan was one of the first 18 persons inducted.

Eddie Tolan was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1980.

Eddie Tolan was one of many athletes honored in 1936 for Champions Day in Detroit, Michigan.

Eddie Tolan was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1982.