After being eliminated in the semi-finals at the 1928 Final Trials, Baird earned his trip to Amsterdam by winning a special race to decide the last two places on the relay team. At the Olympics he put the U.S. into a three-meter lead with an opening leg of 48.8, which his teammates carried on to a new world record of 3:14.2. He was also a member of the team that set a new world record of 3:13.4 for the 4×440 y relay (with Morgan Taylor, Ray Barbuti, and Bud Spencer) in London one week after the Olympics. After graduating from the University of Iowa, Baird had a number of jobs during the early depression years and for a while worked with his brother, Bill Baird, who ran a well-known troupe of marionettes. He finally became an assistant professor of education at NYU, where he also had earned a master’s degree.
Personal Best: 400 – 47.9 (1928).
United States