After placing fifth in the 200m at the 1948 Olympics, Cliff Bourland confirmed that he was really at his best over the full lap with a 47.3 second leg in the 4×400 m relay, which put the U.S. into a winning lead. Bourland had reached the peak of his career some years earlier. In the 1941 AAU he finished third in the 400m in 46.1 and ran a 46.0 relay leg when Southern Cal finished second to Cal/Berkeley, with both teams breaking the world record for the 4×400 m relay. Cliff Bourland also won the AAU and NCAA 400 m in 1942 and 1943, placing second both years in the 200. He then enlisted in the Navy and served as the Captain of a landing craft tank, but he returned to Southern Cal in 1947. After the war he attempted to enter local politics with little success, and then went to work for an insurance company, and later became part owner of Norris, Biggs, and Simpson, a mortgage banking firm.
Personal Bests: 200 – 21.0 (1948); 400 – 46.1 (1941).
United States