Reggie Walker

Reggie Walker won the 1907 South African 220 yds and the 1907 Natal 100 yds and 220 yds titles, but had trouble getting to London, because of insufficient funds, until a Natal sports journalist took up a collection to pay for Walker’s travel to England. In England, he was coached by Sam Mussabini, who later coached 1924 100 m champion Harold Abrahams. At the Olympics, Walker had a relatively easy victory in the heats and then equaled the Olympic record of 10.8 in the semi-final to advance to the final to compete against three North-Americans – James Rector and Nate Cartmell from the USA and Bobby Kerr of Canada. In the final, Walker beat Rector, who had twice equaled the Olympic record in heats, by about ½-a-metre and remains (through 2016) the youngest winner of the Olympic 100 m at 19 years and 128 days old. After the Olympics, Walker stayed in England and won the 1909 British AAA 100 yds title. In 1910, Walker turned professional, which made him ineligible for the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

During WWI, Walker served with the 7th Infantry in German South Africa, before joining with South African Expeditionary Forces in 1917, serving in France, during which time he received a gunshot wound to the head. Walker was discharged from the Army in 1919 and later worked as a clerk with Ropes and Mattings in Nairobi before returning to South Africa.

Personal Best: 100 – 10.7 (1908).