John Garrels John Garrels ( " John Carlyle " Johnny " Garrels " November 18 , 1885 – October 21 , 1956 ) was an American athlete who excelled in the 110 metres hurdles , discus throw , shot put , and as a fullback and end in American football . Garrels won the silver medal in the men ' s 110 metres hurdles and a bronze medal in the shot put at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London . On at least four occasions , he broke world ' s records in the discus throw and 110 metres hurdles , though the Amateur Athletic Union declined to recognize the record on each occasion . He was also a starting left end and fullback for the 1904 , 1905 , and 1906 Michigan Wolverines football team s . In 1911 , the famed trainer and U . S . Olympic track and field coach Mike Murphy rated Garrels as one of the four athletes in the preceding 30 years " who towered head and shoulders above any other athletes of their time . " In 1932 , Keene Fitzpatrick , who trained multiple Olympic gold medalists , called Garrels the best all - around athlete he ever handled . After retiring from athletics , Garrels worked as a chemical engineer . He was a technical director at Wyandotte Chemical Company for 27 years . He died in 1956 at Grosse Ile Township , Michigan . Early years . Garrels was born in Bay City , Michigan in 1885 . His father was a printer . He attended Central High School in Detroit , Michigan , serving as class president . In March 1903 , Garrels won the all - round indoor championship of the YMCA at a meet held in Detroit . At age 17 , Garrels scored 21 points at the meet with first place finishes in the fence vault ( 6 feet , 9 inches ) , running high kick ( 9 feet ) , hop , step and jump ( 27 feet , 5 inches ) , and second place finishes in the shot put and running high jump . University of Michigan . Garrels enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1903 and received a degree in chemical engineering in 1907 . While attending Michigan , Garrels became one of the most accomplished athletes in the university ' s history . He excelled as a member of Michigan ' s football teams from 1904 to 1906 and as a member of its track and field team from 1904 to 1907 . He was also a member of the Tau Beta Pi fraternity and the Michigamua and Vulcan societies at Michigan . Track and field . In April 1904 , Garrels , while still a freshman , demonstrated his ability by throwing the discus " around 118 and 119 feet " - - a distance that would have won the event at the prior week ' s Philadelphia meet . Garrels announced at the time that he intended to make a specialty of the discus throw . In April 1905 , while competing at a meet in Philadelphia , Garrels threw the discus a distance of 135 feet and one - half inch , which exceeded the established world record of 128 feet , 10 - 1 / 2 inches . However , AAU officials ruled that the discus used by Garrels " did not comply strictly with AAU regulations . " ( The discus used by Garrels had an aluminum rim , but complied with the regulations in all other respects . ) Two months later , when Garrels competed at the Western Conference track meet in Chicago , he took care to ensure that the discus he used complied with all regulations in the opinion of the officials present at the meet . At that meet , Garrels threw the discus 140 feet , 2 - 3 / 8 inches , shattering the old world record by nearly 12 feet . Officials at the meet listed the toss as a new world record , but AAU officials again rejected the record , contending that " the discus used was not constructed on the official lines laid down by the A . A . U . " The " Detroit Free Press " wrote that the AAU was a " discredited " organization and led its coverage of the ruling with a headline declaring , " GARRELS AGAIN ROBBED OF HONORS , A . A . U . REFUSING WORLD ' S RECORD . " At the Western Conference meet in June 1906 , Garrels won 18 points - - " more than any whole college team outside of Michigan and Chicago . " At the 1906 conference meet , Garrels equaled the world ' s record in the 120 - yard hurdles , but AAU officials ruled that his time would not qualify for the world record , as he had displaced two hurdles during the race . Under the AAU rules in effect at the time , all hurdles must be standing at the end of the race . Garrels ' time did qualify , however , as a new Western Conference record . Following the 1906 conference meet , Garrels was elected captain of the 1907 track team . At the 1907 Eastern Intercollegiate meet in Cambridge , Massachusetts , Garrels scored 13 points by winning the high hurdles in world record time ( 15 - 1 / 5 seconds ) , and also winning the low hurdles ( 24 seconds ) and placing second in the shot put ( 45 feet , 2 inches ) . His point total was the highest of any athlete at the meet . However , the executive committee of the AAU later ruled that the mark would not qualify as a world record , because the wind was at his back . The " Detroit Free Press " noted , " For a world - beater , Garrels has been unlucky in official recognition . " In 1932 , long - time Michigan and Princeton track coach Keene Fitzpatrick , who trained multiple Olympic gold medalists , called Garrels the best all - around athlete he ever handled . Football . Garrels also played for Fielding H . Yost ' s Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1904 to 1906 . As a sophomore , Garrels was the starting left end in six of ten games for the undefeated 1904 " Point - a - Minute " team that outscored its opponents 567 – 22 . As a junior , Garrels started all 13 games as the left end for the 1905 " Point - a - Minute " team that outscored opponents 495 – 2 . Garrels was the third leading scorer on the 1905 team ( behind Tom Hammond and Joe Curtis ) with seven touchdowns and eight extra point kicks for a total of 43 points . Michigan ' s sole setback in 1905 was a 2 – 0 loss to the University of Chicago team . Garrels had the longest run of the game , a 35 - yard run around Chicago ' s left end . Garrels was stopped by Chicago All - American Walter Eckersall . The " Detroit Free Press " wrote : " Had there been interference near enough to brush off Eckersall , Michigan would have scored an easy touchdown and victory . " At the end of the 1905 season , the " Detroit Free Press " rated him as the " Star of Yost ' s Grid Warriors , " adding , " If there was a man who stood out prominently , it was Johnnie Garrels . " As a senior , Garrels was moved to the fullback position , starting all six games at the position for the 1906 Michigan Wolverines football team that finished the season with a record of 4 – 1 . Michigan easily won its first three games in 1906 against Case ( 28 – 0 ) , Ohio State ( 6 – 0 ) and Illinois ( 28 – 9 ) . The game against Case marked the first game at Ferry Field , and Garrels scored the Wolverines ' first touchdown in the new stadium . He also returned the opening kickoff 95 yards against Illinois . In the fourth game of the 1906 season , Michigan narrowly defeated Vanderbilt by a score of 10 – 4 . Garrels accounted for nine of Michigan ' s ten points with a field goal from the 25 - yard line in the first half and a touchdown run that has been reported as either 65 or 75 yards on a fake punt in the second half . Following the Vanderbilt game , " The Pittsburg Press " wrote : " Garrels is the best fullback in the West , and probably has no equal in the country . Weighing 200 pounds , he is a wonderfully speedy runner , capable of covering the 100 yards in 10 seconds . He is a fine punter , place and drop kicker , tackles well , and is a great line plunger . " In his final game for Michigan ' s football team , the Wolverines lost 17 - 0 to Penn . The Wolverines had lost their captain , Joe Curtis , the week before the Penn game . With Curtis out of the lineup , Penn ' s efforts were concentrated on Garrels , and " his every attempt at an end run or a fake kick " were stopped . Despite the loss , Garrels was credited with playing a " star game , " as the " Detroit Free Press " observed , " The sum and substance of the failure of Garrels to do much today was the great playing of Pennsylvania ' s ends and the almost total lack of interference by the Michigan halfbacks for him . " 1908 Summer Olympics . After graduating from Michigan in 1907 , Garrels trained with the Chicago Athletic Association in preparation for the 1908 Summer Olympics . In May 1908 , as the Olympic trials approached , sports reporter H . V . Valentine wrote , " No figure in the world of athletics is attracting more attention these days than that of John G . [ sic ] Garrles , the great all around athlete of the University of Michigan . " Another reporter noted , " Garrels is undoubtedly the best all around man the middle west has ever produced . He can hurdle , jump and toss the weights and is sure to gather points for America in the many events in which he can make a strong showing . " " The Pittsburg Press " called Garrels " one of the greatest athletes ever developed in the history of manly sports in America . " Even Martin Sheridan ( a five - time Olympic gold medalist ) opined , " He ' s the greatest all - around athlete in our country - - that ' s what I think of him . Some day I hope to meet him , and , win or lose , that will be the greatest day of my life . " In early June 1908 , the U . S . Olympic Committee announced its selections to compete in the 1908 summer games in London . Garrels was selected to compete for the United States in the 110 - meter hurdles , discus , Greek discus and shot put . In late June 1908 , days before sailing for London , Garrels competed at the AAU meet in Pittsburgh . Garrels took first place in the 110 - meter hurdles ( 15 - 3 / 5 seconds ) , the discus throw ( 132 feet , 8 inches ) and the shot put ( 42 feet , 10 inches ) . He also finished in second place in the 100 - meter race . On June 27 , 1908 , Garrels set sail from New York to London aboard the " Philadelphia " as part of the 78 - member American track team led by the famed trainer and coach Mike Murphy . Garrels was selected to carry the American flag at the opening ceremonies in London . On July 13 , 1908 , he led the American delegation into the Olympic stadium at Shepherd ' s Bush before King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria . Garrels began his Olympic competition with the shot put competition on July 16 , 1908 . He finished third in the event , as fellow American ( and former University of Michigan athlete ) Ralph Rose took the gold medal . The discus throw was held on the same day , and Garrels failed to finish among the leaders . Fellow American Martin Sheridan took the gold medal in the event . On July 18 , 1908 , Garrels also competed in the Greek discus , and again he did not place among the leaders . Competing in his fourth event , Garrels took the silver medal in the 110 - meter hurdles , finishing second behind fellow American Forrest Smithson who set a new world record with a time of 15 . 0 seconds . Following Smithson ' s surprise victory over Garrels , one press account noted : " J . C . Garrels , the great University of Michigan athlete , was regarded as unbeatable in this event by the members of the American team , and Smithson ' s feat of beating him by two yards is something which must mark him as perhaps the greatest athlete turned out in America this season . Until this race Garrels has never been defeated in the high hurdles . " Upon their return from London , Garrels and other members of the American Olympic team were the guests of President Theodore Roosevelt at Oyster Bay . In 1911 , Mike Murphy was asked to rank the best athletes he had seen in his 30 years working with track and field athletes . Murphy rated Garrels as one of the four athletes ( along with Lon Myers , Harry Jewett and Alvin Kraenzlein ) " who towered head and shoulders above any other athletes of their time . " Family and later years . Garrels was employed in the chemical industry for many years after retiring from athletics . He was a technical director at Wyandotte Chemical Company ( acquired by BASF in 1969 ) for 27 years . Garrels died in 1956 at age 70 . Garrels was married to Margaret Anne Garrels . They resided in Grosse Ile Township , Michigan , where they raised three children . Their son Robert Garrels ( 1916 - 1988 ) was a noted geochemist . In 2009 , Garrels was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Track and Field Hall of Fame .