Editing Eddie Tolan (section)

==University of Michigan==

===Football===
Tolan was recruited by several major universities as a football player, but he chose the [[University of Michigan]].<ref name=Detnews>{{cite news|author=Patricia Zacharias and Vivian M. Baulch |title=Michigan Athletes have made Olympic history |newspaper=The Detroit News |date=February 2, 2002 |url=http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=148 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710013302/http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=148 |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref> There are differing accounts as to why Tolan never played on the varsity football team at Michigan. According to a published account in The Detroit News in 2002, Tolan joined the freshman football team as a freshman in 1927.<ref name=Detnews/> At that time, no African-American had played on Michigan's varsity football team since [[George Jewett]] in the 1890s. Tolan was initially allowed to play, but on the third day of practice, the freshman football coach told him, "Some of the coaches are disagreeing on your chances. Some of them think that you shouldn't be allowed to play football. I'd be tickled to have you but I'm afraid I'm going to be outvoted."<ref name=Detnews/> ''[[The Detroit News]]'' noted, that the freshman coach was outvoted: "They took away Eddie Tolan's football uniform and handed him a track suit in exchange."<ref name=Detnews/>

Other accounts indicate, it was an injury that prevented Tolan from playing football at Michigan. An Associated Press story on Tolan in 1958 stated: "He would have been a football great as a quarterback, had a knee injury in his junior year in high school not forced him to channel all his energies to track."<ref name=Now/> In his obituary, the Associated Press reported that the coaches at Michigan "talked the pint-sized speedster into going out for track."<ref name=Dies/> Tolan was also quoted as saying, "The track team did a lot more traveling then, so I saw the opportunity to travel on a Pullman and see the country."<ref name=Dies/>

===Big Ten and world sprint champion===
[[File:Stephen Farrell -1353648506.jpg|thumb|right|130px|Tolan's coach, [[Steve Farrell]], was considered "the greatest professional footracer this country has ever known"]]
At Michigan, Tolan ran track under the mentorship of two of the great sprinters of their generations. Michigan's head coach, [[Steve Farrell]], was considered "the greatest professional footracer this country has ever known" in the 1880s and 1890s.<ref>{{cite news|author=Walter Eckersall|author-link=Walter Eckersall|title=Steve Farrell Once Noted as Keen Sprinter: Track Coach Learns Tricks of Trade in Old School|work=The Anaconda Standard|date=June 23, 1918}}</ref> And Michigan's assistant coach [[Charles B. Hoyt]], who took over from Farrell in 1930, was rated "America's best sprinter" in 1913, but lost his opportunity to compete in the 1916 Olympics due to [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Track & Field Timeline & Overview|publisher=Iowa High School Athletic Association|url=http://www.iahsaa.org/Track/Archives/tr_timeline_overview.pdf|access-date=January 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725010234/http://www.iahsaa.org/track/Archives/tr_timeline_overview.pdf|archive-date=July 25, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Coaches at Michigan weren't supportive in the face of racism Tolan faced while traveling, and even told him he'd be the last black athlete on the team if he complained.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bulanda|first=George|date=January 7, 2015|title=Unlikely Sprinter|url=https://www.hourdetroit.com/community/unlikely-sprinter|magazine=Hour Detroit|publisher=}}</ref>

As a sophomore in May 1929, Tolan broke the Big Ten Conference record and tied the world's record for the 100 yard dash with a time of 9.6.<ref name=Ties/> Press coverage starting with this world record run, and throughout his career, focused on three features – Tolan's race, his eyeglasses, and his short stocky build. Tolan was one of the first African-Americans to have success in sprinting,<ref name=Ages>{{cite book|author= Edward Seldon Sears|title= Running Through the Ages, pp. 178–181|publisher=McFarland|year=2001|isbn= 0-7864-0971-1}}</ref> and he raced with eyeglasses taped to his head.<ref name=Detnews/> Various accounts put his height anywhere from 5 feet, 4&nbsp;inches,<ref name=Dies/><ref name=Jet>{{cite magazine|title=Eddie Tolan Dies: Remembered As High School Idol|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|date=February 1967}}</ref> to 5 feet, 7&nbsp;inches.<ref name=Detnews/> One writer noted that Tolan "looks like a church deacon."<ref>{{cite news|title=Eddie Tolan Steals Spotlight From Metcalfe: Former Wolverine Takes Limelight in Sprints|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 16, 1932}}</ref> Another writer described Tolan's appearance this way:

<blockquote>Tolan, known as the 'Midnight Express,' was {{convert|5|ft|6|in|m|spell=in}} tall and weighed {{convert|130|lb|kg}}. He smiled often, raced while chewing gum, and could be easily identified by a bandage around his left knee to protect an old football injury. In addition he wore [[horn-rimmed glasses]] held in place with adhesive tape.<ref name=Ages/></blockquote>

Tolan's gum-chewing became part of his routine. He chewed gum before a race to relieve stress. After accidentally running with the gum in his mouth, Tolan found that he was chewing in sync with his stride. Tolan later began chewing gum as part of his routine, chewing the gum faster when he needed to accelerate his leg movements.<ref name=Ages/>

At the Big Ten championships in May 1930, Tolan broke the world's record in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.5.<ref name=World>{{cite news|title=Tolan Given Credit For New 100-Yard Mark: Five American Records Get World Recognition|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=May 21, 1930}}</ref> Tolan's performance was accepted by the International Amateur Athletic Federation as the new official world's record.<ref name=World/>

Seven weeks after breaking the world's record in the 100-yard dash, Tolan also broke the world's record in the 100 meters race. Competing in [[Vancouver|Vancouver, British Columbia]], Tolan shaved two-tenths of a second off the record with a time of 10-1/5 seconds.<ref name=Flyer>{{cite news|author=Frank G. Gorrie|title=Dash Time Bettered By Tolan: Michigan Flyer Sets New Figure for 100 Meters; Trims Two Rivals|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 2, 1930}}</ref> Track officials in Vancouver announced after the race, that Tolan's record-setting performance was "all the more remarkable in the fact that he ran uphill, the finish mark being thirty inches higher than the starting point."<ref name=Flyer/>

Tolan's world-record performances in 1930 brought him international fame, as he became known as the "Midnight Express."<ref name=Flyer/> In May 1931, Tolan again broke the world's record in the 100 meters event with a time of 10.3 seconds in Vancouver.<ref name=Gorrie>{{cite news|author=Frank G. Gorrie|title=Tolan Defeats Wykoff at Vancouver: Colored Star Breaks Mark; Special 100-Meter Event Won in 10.3s; Michigan Negro Cops Race by Two Yards|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=August 23, 1931}}</ref> Southern California sprinter [[Frank Wykoff]] jumped to a slight lead, but Tolan came from behind to pass Wykoff at the 100-yard mark.<ref name=Gorrie/>

Tolan graduated from the University of Michigan in 1931.