Dick Attlesey

Richard Harold Attlesey (May 10, 1929 – October 14, 1984) was an American sprinter who mostly competed in the 110-meter hurdles. He set world records for the event twice in 1950 with times of 13.6 and 13.5 seconds.

His 1950 season saw him win at the Long Beach Relays, West Coast Relays, California Relays and the Pacific Coast championships. Attlesey won his first U.S. championship race over the distance with a world record time of 13.6 seconds. He then travelled to an international track meet in Helsinki, Finland, the month after and improved the record further with a time of 13.5 seconds. He competed extensively in Finland in July 1951, winning all his races abroad. He returned to California in April to compete collegiately and he continued his hurdles winning streak. After his national title win, he travelled to Europe for a series of high level competitions. He won his first race in Milan, but failed to finish in his following date in Bern, bringing his undefeated streak to an end after almost two years. In spite of this, he won all the rest of his hurdles races on his tour of France, West Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Attlesey suffered an injury in 1952 and this seriously affected his form. He came fifth at the West Coast Relays and was runner-up at the California Relays. At the Olympic Trials he failed to gain a spot on the American team for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics as he finished seventh in his heat in a comparatively pedestrian time of 15.1 seconds. He showed a return to good condition at the West Coast Relays in 1953, running 14.1 seconds for second place, but this proved to be the final outing of his hurdling career.