The Jamaican Olympic champion of the Helsinki 1952 Games George Rhoden has died. Rhoden passed away last Saturday at the age of 97. The International Athletics Federation WA reported on his passing on its website.
Rhoden’s career culminated in the 400m and 4x400m championships at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Two years before the Helsinki Games, he ran the 400m world record 45.8 in Eskilstuna, Sweden, which remained his record.
In the Helsinki Olympic final, Rhoden’s winning time was 46.09. In the final race of the long relay, the Jamaican team improved the world record time of 3:04.04.
In addition to two Olympic golds, Rhoden won four championships in the Central American and Caribbean region championships in his career.