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Back to Athlete Bios
Athlete Bio

Charles Moore

Basic Information

Status: Hall of Fame Gender: Male Date of Birth: 8/12/1929

Athletics Information

Event: Indoor Track & Field, Outdoor Track & Field Agent: N/A

Residences

Hometown: Mercersburg, PA High School: Mercersburg Academy College: Cornell University

One of the greatest intermediate hurdlers of all time, Charles Moore never lost a 400m hurdles race and was an innovator in the event. Before Moore came along, competitors in the event customarily took 15 strides between hurdles. However, Moore applied a principle of engineering and decided 13 strides between hurdles would offer more fluidity and power. In 1952, Moore won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles in an Olympic record time of 50.8, narrowly missing the world record despite running on a soft, rainy-soaked track. He also ran a leg on the second-place 4x400m relay team. As a student at Cornell, the versatile Moore won the 1949 NCAA 440 yard flat race and the 1951 220-yard hurdles. He also won four straight national intermediate hurdles titles and the 1952 national 600-yard indoor title. After serving as president and CEO of several multinational manufacturing companies, Moore became Cornell's athletic director from 1994 to 1999 and president of the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America from 1999. He has also served as a private sector member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Board of Directors.

Records Held

World Record: 400 hurdles - 50.80 (July 21, 1952 - )

Championships

1952 Olympics: 400 m hurdles - 50.80 (1st)
1952 Olympics: 1,600 m relay (2nd)
1952 AAU: 600 yd. (1st)
1949 NCAA: 440 yd. (1st)
1951 NCAA: 220 yd. hurdles (1st)

Occupations

Corporate executive
Athletic director

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