event death_place death_date club birth_place weight height pb sport birth_date image article_title
110 m hurdles athens , georgia , united states april 9 , 1991 -lrb- aged 77 -rrb- georgia bulldogs , athens fitzgerald , georgia , united states 75 kg lb on 1.88 m ftin on 110 mh -- 13.7 -lrb- 1936 -rrb- athletics february 6 , 1914 churchman cigarette card of forrest towns.jpg forrest towns

forrest towns

forrest grady `` spec '' towns -lrb- february 6 , 1914 -- april 9 , 1991 -rrb- was an american track and field athlete .
he was the 1936 olympic champion in the 110 m hurdles , and broke the world record in that event three times .
born in fitzgerald , georgia , towns grew up in augusta , georgia , where he played football in high school at richmond academy .
in 1933 , he earned a football scholarship to the university of georgia -lrb- uga -rrb- after a sports journalist had seen him high jumping in his back yard .
rather than high jumping , towns specialized in the high hurdles , winning ncaa and aau titles in the 120 y hurdles event in 1935 .
it was the beginning of a 60 race winning streak , lasting until 1937 .
in 1936 , towns was named to the american olympic team , becoming the first georgian to achieve this .
during the olympics in berlin , germany , towns became the world record holder with 14.1 , and he won the olympic gold in 14.2 .
also , he became the first georgian to earn olympic gold .
shortly after the games , he became the first hurdler under 14 seconds .
at a race in oslo , he dramatically improved the world record to 13.7 -- a time that would stand until 1950 .
after college , towns became head track and field coach at uga , a position he held until 1975 .
in 1991 , he died in athens , georgia at age 77 .
he was honored at the university with the naming of the spec towns track , and an annual meet called the spec towns invitational .
