       harold marion osborn d.o. (april 13, 1899 &ndash; april 5, 1975) was a u.s. track athlete. he won a gold medal in olympic decathlon and high jump in 1924. the apex of the athletic career of harold m. osborn occurred at the 1924 olympic games in paris, france (the games of the viii olympiad, featured in the popular film, chariots of fire). osborn was the first and, to this day, the only athlete ever to win gold in both the decathlon and an individual event. ==early life== harold marion osborn was born april 13, 1899, the fourth child and third son of jesse ware osborn and emma ware, whose parents and grandparents were settled in central illinois in the early 19th century. osborn grew up on the family farm in butler grove township in montgomery county. thumb|harold osborn family farmhouse in butler grove township, 5 miles north of hillsboro, il - august 2007. family lore tells us that harold and his brothers, wesley, clarence, and loren, were encouraged to run and practice jumping hurdles on the farm. their father, jesse, built a track and hurdles on the farm so that the boys could practice. after team practices in football, basketball, and track at hillsboro high school, harold had to walk or run the five and a half miles home to the farm. throughout osborn's long athletic career, few people were aware that he had lost most of his vision in one eye due to an injury during his teenage years. as a result he had very little depth perception, making it difficult to know when to jump as he approached the cross bar. he compensated by carefully measuring from the take-off point to a point where he began his running approach. ==after high school== after high school, osborn attended the university of illinois, from 1919 through 1922, majoring in agriculture. while at illinois, he was a founding member of the eta chapter of kappa delta rho fraternity. he then accepted a high school teaching job at lewiston, illinois, where, sponsored by the illinois athletic club of chicago, he continued to train and to compete in track and field events in preparation for the upcoming 1924 [
1899_births 1975_deaths American_decathletes American_high_jumpers American_physicians Athletes_(track_and_field)_at_the_1924_Summer_Olympics Athletes_(track_and_field)_at_the_1928_Summer_Olympics Former_world_record_holders_in_athletics_(track_and_field) Olympic_gold_medalists_for_the_United_States Olympic_medalists_in_athletics_(track_and_field) Olympic_track_and_field_athletes_of_the_United_States Osteopathic_physicians