(1949-03-28)March 28, 1949 Los Angeles, California, United States
Died
March 31, 2013(2013-03-31) (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, United States
Height
1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight
73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
Sport
Athletics
Event(s)
100 m, 200 m
Club
Southern California Striders, Anaheim
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
100 yd – 9.3 (1969) 100 m – 10.14 (9.9h) (1968) 200 m – 20.4 (1968)
Medal record
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
1968 Mexico City
4×100 m relay
Ronald Ray Smith (March 28, 1949 – March 31, 2013) was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He attended San Jose State College during the "Speed City" era, coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter and graduating in sociology.[1]
At the 1968 AAU Championships, Ronnie Ray Smith equaled the 100 m world record in the semifinal, repeating the same time of 9.9 which was run by Jim Hines in the same race and Charles Greene in the other semifinal of the same competition.[2] That evening of June 20, 1968, at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California has been dubbed by track and field historians as the "Night of Speed."[3][4] Since Smith was still 19 years old at the time, that mark also became the World Junior Record, which lasted for exactly 8 years.
At the Mexico Olympics, Smith ran the third leg in the American 4 × 100 m relay team that won the gold medal and set a new world record of 38.24 seconds.[1]
Before arriving at San Jose State, Smith ran at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, finishing third in the 220 yard dash at the CIF California State Meet in 1966.[5]
After retiring from competitions Smith worked at the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department. He was inducted into the San Jose State Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
Smith died in a hospice facility in Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 2013. He was 64.[6] His funeral was featured on the TLC reality TV show Best Funeral Ever. In honor and memory of his 1968 gold medal performance, his casket "ran" a 100yd race and received a gold medal in a mock Olympic-style funeral.[7]
^ abcRonnie Ray Smith. sports-reference.com
^IAAF Record Progression. IAAF. p. 547
^"Olympics athletics memorabilia Sports Memorabilia Affordable Gift or Investment". Cricketcollectables.net. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
^"Track & Field News • View topic – 100 m of 1968 AAU championship". Trackandfieldnews.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
^California State Meet Results – 1915 to present. Prepcaltrack.com. Retrieved on July 12, 2015.
^"Olympic gold medalist Ronnie Ray Smith dies". ContraCostaTimes.com. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
^Videos. TLC (May 9, 2014). Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
Winter and graduating in sociology. At the 1968 AAU Championships, RonnieRaySmith equaled the 100 m world record in the semifinal, repeating the same...
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(manual timing), with an electronic time of 10.03 – two other athletes, RonnieRaySmith behind him (electronic time 10.13) and Charles Greene on the other...
Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith. He went on to tie the world record in the 100-yard dash and beat the 200...
Athletics, Men's 110 m Hurdles Charles Greene, Jim Hines, Mel Pender, and RonnieRaySmith — Athletics, Men's 4 × 100 m Relay Lee Evans, Ron Freeman, Larry James...
actress 1948 – Milan Williams, American keyboard player (d. 2006) 1949 – RonnieRaySmith, American sprinter (d. 2013) 1953 – Melchior Ndadaye, Burundian banker...
Ben Johnson was stripped of his medal and world record. Jim Hines, RonnieRaySmith and Charles Greene were the first to break the 10-second barrier in...
timed in 9.9 seconds, to set the new world record, but in second place RonnieRaySmith was also credited with the same time, equalling the world record. Minutes...
Questad Bill Reilly David Romansky Jim Ryun Lou Scott RonnieRaySmith Tommie Smith Tracy Smith Geoff Vanderstock Tom Von Ruden Ron Whitney George Young...
Satch Sanders Gale Sayers Arnold Schwarzenegger Bill Shankly RonnieRaySmith Tommie Smith Bart Starr John Surtees Giovanni Trapattoni Johnny Unitas Jerry...
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Questad Bill Reilly David Romansky Jim Ryun Lou Scott RonnieRaySmith Tommie Smith Tracy Smith Geoff Vanderstock Tom Von Ruden Ron Whitney George Young...
Ronnie Masterson (4 April 1926 – 10 February 2014) was an Irish actress. Masterson was born in Dublin. She trained at the Abbey Theatre and first appeared...
finishers all beat the previous world record. The Black Power salute: Tommie Smith and John Carlos wore black gloves and bowed their heads on the medal podium...
Questad Bill Reilly David Romansky Jim Ryun Lou Scott RonnieRaySmith Tommie Smith Tracy Smith Geoff Vanderstock Tom Von Ruden Ron Whitney George Young...
Questad Bill Reilly David Romansky Jim Ryun Lou Scott RonnieRaySmith Tommie Smith Tracy Smith Geoff Vanderstock Tom Von Ruden Ron Whitney George Young...
Sabadini, Italian footballer Patrick Süskind, German writer March 28 RonnieRaySmith, American Olympic athlete (d. 2013) Michael W. Young, American geneticist...
Deal?" Archived April 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, TPMMuckracker.com, Smith, R. Jeffrey (March 25, 2006). "Former DeLay Aide Enriched By Nonprofit"...
meet, on the evening of June 20, 1968, when three men, Jim Hines, RonnieRaySmith and Charlie Greene, bettered the (hand timed) world record in the 100...
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