| Herb Douglas | |
 Douglas in 2018 | |
| Birth: | 9 March 1922 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Death: | 22 April 2023 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Age: | 101 years, 44 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Centenarian | |
Herbert Paul Douglas Jr. (9 March 1922 – 22 April 2023) was an American centenarian and athlete who competed mainly in the long jump. He was the oldest living U.S. Olympic medalist prior to his death at the age of 101 years, 44 days.
Biography[]
Early life and education[]
Douglas was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 9 March 1922. He graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh in 1940. He was Allderdice's first black basketball player.
Douglas first attended Xavier University of Louisiana in 1942, and competed at the 48th Annual Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, helping Xavier win the American Quarter-Mile Relay Championship. He also competed in college at the University of Pittsburgh and was inducted into the inaugural class of their sports hall of fame in 2018. Douglas was a member of Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity.
Olympics[]
Douglas represented the U.S. in the long jump at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he won the bronze medal with a jump of 24 feet and 9 inches (7.54 meters). Willie Steele of the United States won the gold medal with 25 feet and 8 inches (7.82 meters), and Australia's Theo Bruce took the silver medal with 24 feet and 9.5 inches (7.56 meters). Prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, Douglas was recognized as the oldest living African-American Olympic medalist.
Later life[]
Douglas turned 100 in March 2022, and died in Pittsburgh on 22 April 2023, at the age of 101 years, 44 days. Douglas was inducted into the Taylor Allderdice High School alumni hall of fame in 2009.
References[]
- Herb Douglas Olympedia
- Herbert Paul Douglas Jr. International Olympic Committee
- Herb Douglas, Oldest Living African-American Olympic Medalist, Reflects On 1948 London Games HuffPost, 13 July 2012 (Archived)
- 'I accepted that third place like it was first place': How the 1948 Olympics changed Herb Douglas' life Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 19 July 2021 (Archived)
- Oldest living Olympic medalist Herb Douglas returns home to celebrate 100th birthday TribLIVE, 8 March 2022 (Archived)
- Herb Douglas, Olympic Medalist Inspired by Jesse Owens, Dies at 101 The New York Times, 24 April 2023 (Archived)