Editing Charley Paddock (section)

==Biography==
Paddock was born in [[Gainesville, Texas]], to Charles H. and Lulu (Robinson) Paddock. His family moved to [[Pasadena, California]], when he was a child. After serving in [[World War I]] as a lieutenant of field artillery in the [[U.S. Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]], Paddock studied at the [[University of Southern California]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpa81|title=PADDOCK, CHARLES WILLIAM|publisher= Texas State Historical Association|access-date= October 19, 2012}}</ref> There he became a member of the track and field team, and excelled in the sprint events. He won the 100 and 200 m in the first major sporting event after the war, the 1919 [[Inter-Allied Games]], in which soldiers of the Allied nations competed against each other. Paddock was the first person named "The fastest man alive".

In 1920, Paddock represented his country at the [[1920 Summer Olympics]] in [[Antwerp]]. In Belgium, he had his greatest successes, winning the 100 m final, while placing second in the 200 m event. With the American 4 × 100 m relay team, Paddock won a third Olympic medal. Paddock became famous for his unusual finishing style, leaping towards the finish line at the end of the race.

The next year, he ran the 110 [[yard|yd]], which is slightly more than 100 m, in 10.2 seconds. It was not until 1956 that the [[World Record progression 100 m men|world record for the 100 m]] became lower than Paddock's time over 110 yard. Paddock broke or equaled several other world records over Imperial distances.

At the [[1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Olympics]], Paddock again qualified for both the 100 and 200 m finals, but he was less successful than four years earlier; he finished 5th in the 100 m and won another silver medal in the 200 m. Paddock was not a part of the American relay team. In ''[[Chariots of Fire]]'', the 1981 Oscar-winning film about those races, Paddock was portrayed by [[Dennis Christopher]]. In 1928, Paddock participated in his [[1928 Summer Olympics|third Olympics]], but did not reach the 200 m final.<ref name="sports-reference"/>

During his athletic activities, Paddock also held management positions in several newspapers; his father-in-law was newspaper publisher [[Charles H. Prisk]]. In 1926, Paddock appeared in ''[[The Campus Flirt]]'', a black-and-white silent film (now lost) featuring another Texas native, Paramount starlet [[Bebe Daniels]].<ref>E. R. Bills. ''Texas Far & Wide: The Tornado with Eyes, Gettysburg's Last Casualty, The Celestial Skipping Stone and Other Tales''. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017.</ref> Paddock served on the personal staff of Major General [[William P. Upshur]] beginning at the end of [[World War I]]. An autobiography, entitled ''The Fastest Human'', was published in 1932.<ref name=britannica/>

In 1943, during [[World War II]], Upshur and Paddock (by then a captain) died in a plane crash near [[Sitka City and Borough, Alaska|Sitka]], [[Alaska]]. Paddock is interred at [[Sitka National Cemetery]] in Sitka.<ref name="sports-reference"/><ref name="WWII">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417055433/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War |access-date=24 July 2018 |work=Sports Reference}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=23 July 1943 |title=Marine Chief in pacific, Famous Sprinter Killer |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn97063183/1943-07-23/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1940&index=14&date2=1963&words=commanding+marine+officer&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&rows=20&proxtext=Marine+commanding+officer&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=4 |work= The Ypsilanti Daily Press|location=Ypsilanti, MI |access-date=2 November 2021}}</ref>

In 1976 he was inducted into the [[National Track and Field Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=127|title=Charlie Paddock|publisher=USA Track & Field, Inc.|work=usatf.org|access-date=April 1, 2009}}</ref>