All-round athlete Lorren Cornelius was a good track sprinter and captained the basketball team whilst at high school in Chillicothe, Missouri. In 1901 Cornelius had moved to St. Louis where he joined the YMCA to work as a physical education instructor. Still keen to run in track events, he competed in a 600 yard race at an invitational meet, which he went on to win. At the 1904 St. Louis Olympics dozens of handicap non-medal track and field events were contested alongside the “true” Olympic events. To qualify for the 440 yards events Cornelius had to win in a local race, where he ran one of the fastest times ever witnessed in St. Louis. He then went on to win the 440 yards open Olympic handicap race in 51 seconds. He continued to compete in the 440 yards for a few more years, winning his final race in 1907 at the Western Amateur Athletic Association meet. Cornelius gave up on track running to take up golf and won numerous trophies, including a senior championship when he was 70.
United States