Name Lou Jones Role Olympic athlete | Education Manhattan College | |
Died February 3, 2006, New York City, New York, United States | ||
Louis Woodard "Lou" Jones (January 15, 1932 – February 3, 2006) was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4x400 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Jones graduated from Manhattan College in 1954. He won the 400 m at the 1955 Pan-American Games, where he set a new world record of 45.4. He was also a member of the gold medal winning American 4x400 m relay team.
Just four months before the Melbourne Olympics, Jones broke his own 400 m world record, clocking 45.2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the US Olympic Trials, thus becoming a main favorite at this event in Melbourne. But in the Olympic 400 m final, Jones was off form, and managed to finish only in a disappointing fifth place, 1.50 seconds behind teammate Charles Jenkins. A few days later, Jones partly compensated for his disappointment, running the second leg in the gold medal winning American 4x400 m relay team.