George Rhoden

George Vincent Rhoden (13 December 1926 – 24 August 2024) was a Jamaican athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1952.

Rhoden was born in Kingston on 13 December 1926. He later moved to San Francisco, California, and was one of the successful long sprinters from Jamaica in the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley. He competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, but did not win a medal, being eliminated in the heats of the 100 m and the semi-final of the 400 m. He was also a member of the heavily favoured Jamaican 4 × 400 m relay team, but when Wint pulled a muscle in the final, their chances at a medal were gone. On 22 August 1950 at Eskilstuna, Sweden, Rhoden set a new world record in 400 m of 45.8 s. He also won the AAU championships in 400 m from 1949 to 1951 and as a Morgan State University student, won the NCAA championships in in 1951 and in from 1950 to 1952. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Rhoden was more successful. As a world record holder he was one of the pre-race favourites in the 400 m which he won in a close battle with his compatriot McKenley, who had also been second in the 1948 Olympic 400 m. As the anchor runner of the Jamaican relay team, Rhoden added a second Olympic gold, edging the United States where he lived by a tenth of a second, and setting a new world record (3:03.9). He died on 24 August 2024, at the age of 97.

International competitions 1Did not finish in the final