Delano Meriwether

Wilhelm Delano Meriwether (born April 23, 1943 His sporting involvement at high school was limited as he was considered too small for basketball and football.

While still at high school Meriwether worked in a veterinary hospital having already won an award from the American Veterinary Medical Association as a 16-year-old for research on internal parasites found in dogs. After graduating from high school he received a scholarship to study at Michigan State University; taking pre-veterinary studies for two years before switching to pre-medical. graduating with honors in 1967 and then obtained a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.

Medicine After graduating from Duke, Meriwether took his internship at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, before starting a residency at Ohio State University Medical Center. In the early 1970s he worked researching Leukemia at the Baltimore Cancer Research Center,

In 1983 he moved to Gazankulu in South Africa where he worked as a missionary doctor and was one of six physicians treating a half million people. He later worked and lived in the Soweto township.

Meriwether returned to the United States in 1990 working as an Emergency Room doctor.

Athletics

Meriwether began competitive running in 1970 while working at the Baltimore Cancer Research Center. In order to train Meriwether would scale a fence at the nearby Johns Hopkins University athletics track and would run at night in the dark. Due to his relative inexperience and unique attire, Meriwether drew the attention of the news media; appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated posing in his running gear, His appearance at the event was unusual for a number of reasons. He was unattached to any educational institution and he was wearing a hospital shirt, gold and white suspenders and swimming trunks. The most remarkable element of the day was the time he recorded for the 100-yard dash. In recording a nine-second 100-yard he became the second runner to run the distance in nine seconds flat, the other being John Carlos, however Meriwether's time did not count as a record as the run was wind assisted.

In 1972 Meriwether was the United States Indoor Track and Field Champion, but due to a knee injury he was unable to compete for selection for the United States 1972 Olympic Games team. After another injury prevented his chances of being selected for the 1976 Olympics, he retired from regular competition to concentrate on medicine.

For a number of years he ran in masters events and his 200-meter run of 20.8 seconds in 1978 is still a current national record in the 35-39 age group.

Personal life Delano is married to Nomvimbi Meriwether, who runs a travel agency specializing in tours of Africa. Their daughter, Nana Meriwether (b. 1985) represented Maryland in the 2012 Miss USA Pageant and was named the New Miss USA 2012 on December 19, after current Miss USA Olivia Culpo became Miss Universe 2012.

Popular culture The novel Bethany Park, by Glen Sharp, tells the story of a boy inspired to run after reading of Dr Meriwether's athletic endeavors in Sports Illustrated.