Herb
Douglas
At
Xavier University's 84th commencement Saturday 7th May 2011, it was
an 89-year-old who stole the show.
Herb Douglas set a
school-record long-jump of 24 feet 4 inches at the University of
Pittsburgh.
"It's a storybook ending,'' said Herb Douglas.
"Xavier started me on my path in life. I learned academics there. I
learned religion. I learned how to run.''
Obviously, Herb
Douglas also learned how to jump.
At the 1948 Olympic Games
in London, he long-jumped 24 feet nine inches to win the bronze
medal, becoming, and remaining, Xavier's only Olympic medalist.
The story begins in the autumn of 1940, when Douglas arrived at
Xavier, recruited by the track coach, Ralph Metcalfe, a silver
medalist (behind Jesse Owens) in the 100 meters and part of the U.S.
gold-medal 400-meter relay team at the 1936 games in Berlin.
In 1941, Douglas set a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
championship-meet record of 23 feet 11 inches in the outdoor
long-jump. In 1942, he was part of a 440-yard relay team that
made Xavier this country's first historically black college or
university to win a relay race at the Penn Relays.
The
program Metcalfe began won 14 conference championships in 21 years
at a school described as "the black Notre Dame.''
When World War II limited Douglas' stay at Xavier to two years,
forcing him to return to his home in Pittsburgh to assist his
father, who was blind, in the operation of a 24-hour parking
garage, life's second chapter began.
"My dad needed
help,'' said Douglas. "He was losing employees to the military
and war-related industries. I wanted to stay at Xavier, but
circumstances wouldn't allow me. I helped my dad with his
business, and I got a scholarship to the University of
Pittsburgh, where I played football and was a member of the
track team.''
The highlights: A school-record long-jump
of 24 feet 4 inches that stood for 23 years, and a touchdown
against Notre Dame on a pass reception.
"I'll never
forget that touchdown,'' Douglas said, laughing. "It was on a
stop-and-go route.''
The academic highlights: A
bachelor's degree in '48 followed by a masters degree in '50.
The lasting memory: The '48 Summer Olympics in London.
Douglas made the team with a leap of 25 feet 3 inches in the
Trials at Evanston, Ill.
"We looked at it as the
make-the-boat games, the long boat trip across the Atlantic,''
he recalled. "A lot of pressure in the Trials. Eight of us made
it. It was a great scene inside Wembley Stadium, the first
Olympics after the war, the first since Berlin in '36.
"For me, when I got to Xavier, it was a great experience just
listening to the stories told by Ralph Metcalfe about the '36
games, about the great Jesse Owens. I show up and my coach is
known as the 'second-fastest man in the world.' That's some
memory for a youngster. My biggest regret from those days was
not jumping far enough to win the silver in '48. Missed by a
quarter-inch.''
An Olympic medal becomes part of you for the
rest of your life.
"In those days,'' said Douglas, "they
gave us medallions similar to the medals. My mom used to wear my
bronze medallion all the time. When she died, I made sure she
was wearing it. I'm still wearing the ring the U.S. Olympic
Committee gave us. The Committee tells me I'm now the
fourth-oldest track-and-field medalist still living. At 89,
that's a nice team to be a member of.''
After graduating
from Pitt, Douglas went to work for the Pabst Brewing Company,
then for the wine and spirits importer, Schieffelin & Somerset,
where he became only the third African-American to become
vice-president of a major North American corporation.
So
what's new, Herb?
Currently, he's on a schedule that
proves he fits the image of the "Energizer Bunny,'' which is
what wife Minerva calls him.
"On Tuesday,'' he said, "I'm
planning to be back at Pitt, where the university will be
celebrating a centennial salute to its African-American
athletes. I'll be in fast company up there. I'll be around
football greats like Tony Dorsett, Hugh Green and Larry
Fitzgerald, like track legend Roger Kingdom.''
And then?
Well, when the Olympics return to London next year, Herb
Douglas, whose knees minimize walking and eliminate jogging, who
manages to stay fit by swimming four times a week, has made
plans to be in Wembley Stadium.
"I'm hoping I'm fit
enough to make the trip,'' said Herb. "I don't think I'll go by
boat.''
Any contributions to this item will be
gratefully accepted
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