Ira Courtney
Encyclopedia
J. Ira Courtney (April 27, 1888 – April 15, 1968) was an American
track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics
. During the years 1909 through 1914, he won many awards and championships as both a sprinter and hurdler. At the Games in Stockholm
, Sweden
, he competed in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes and the 400-meter relay. In his later years he became a champion handball
player.
. According to Jim Daves, the author of The Glory of Washington (his book about the University of Washington
), it was there that young Ira first discovered his talent for sprinting when he and his brother outran some policemen when they were caught filching fruit in an orchard. After moving with his family to Seattle, Washington, Courtney competed on the Broadway High School track team. In 1909, he was the captain of Washington’s West Side Team in the state championship meet, where he won the low hurdles, and all three sprinting events, setting a new state record in the 220-yard dash of 22 and one-fifth of a second. (This was in the days long before modern technology which now allows races to be recorded in one hundredths of a second.) He also competed on Broadway’s swimming, baseball, and football teams. Courtney's victory in the 220-yard low hurdles on May 1, 1909, was the decisive race in Broadway's one-point victory over cross-town rival Lincoln High School. Later that year, he competed in track events for the Seattle Athletic Club.
in Exeter, New Hampshire
, where he equaled the interscholastic record in the 40-yard dash of 4 and 3/5 of a second while competing on a wooden track at the snow-bound college. In 1911, Courtney returned to Seattle and enrolled at the University of Washington where his sprinting speed continued to improve. After a number of impressive victories in the spring of 1912, a growing movement of Courtney’s Seattle fans persuaded the Seattle Athletic Club to send him to the west coast Olympic trials that May in California
. During the trials on May 17 at Stanford University
's track in Palo Alto
, Courtney qualified for the Olympic team by winning the 100-meter dash, tying the then world Olympic record of 10.4 seconds which was set in 1908 by the South Africa
n sprinter Reggie Walker
during the games in London
. During the Olympic trials Courtney also won the 200-meter dash. By qualifying, Courtney became both the University of Washington's first Olympic athlete, and the first Olympic athlete from the Pacific Northwest
.
as well as the 200 metres competition
. The 100-meter final was won by his teammate Ralph Craig, followed by two more Americans who won the silver and bronze. Craig also won the 200-meter final.
Courtney was selected for the 4x100 meter relay and would almost certainly have won a gold medal in that race if the U.S. team had not been eliminated in a semi-final round of the 4x100 metre contest
after two of the other men on the team failed to complete the baton pass in the allotted 20-meter zone on the first transfer. It would be the first and only time the United States team failed to win the 400-meter relay until 1960, when they were again eliminated for another passing fault during the finals at the Rome Olympics in which they would have set a world record if not for the disqualification. Courtney also played on the U.S. team in the baseball event
which was held as a demonstration sport
. Among his teammates, was Abel Kiviat, who was the silver medalist in the 1500 meters, and would go on to become America's longest-living Olympic medal-winner. He died in 1991 at the age of 99.
Today, the 1912 Olympics are best remembered as the "Jim Thorpe
Olympics," due to the Native-American's wins in both the pentathlon and the decathlon. Thorpe later had his medals taken away and his records expunged from the books when it was discovered that he had briefly played some semi-pro baseball before the games. In 1950 a panel of sports writers named him as the greatest athlete of the first half-century. After a long campaign to restore his reputation, Thorpe’s name was finally cleared, and his medals were returned to his family in 1982. In a 1964 interview with the San Bernardino County Sun, Courtney remembered his famous teammate as a "wonderful athlete...however he did like firewater." Courtney also thought it unfair that Thorpe's medals were taken away for playing under an assumed name because "they were all doing it in those days." Courtney didn't mention whether or not he was one of them.
in Los Angeles, where he earned a law degree and continued running track. However, his shot at making another Olympic team in 1916 was dashed when the games were cancelled because of an event called World War I. In the 1920s he went on to win a number of Southern California doubles handball championships with his partner Fred Alney.
district attorney for many years. Pauline would later become a prolific and award-winning painter, one of whose works, depicting the forging area at the Fontana
Kaiser Steel Mill, hung in the Library of Congress
. After practicing law for a short time, Courtney became a partner in an engineering contracting business that specialized in road building. Among their many projects was the highway from Barstow
to Baker
. During the depression
the partnership dissolved, and Courtney again practiced law for a few more years. Then, except for two periods when he was the San Diego County
Rent Attorney and worked for the State Pest Control registrar, Courtney was employed with the California Contractors' State License Board from 1940 to 1959. On May 1, 1959, Courtney returned to the practice of law when he entered into partnership with his son Norman P. Courtney in Fontana, California. In February of 1968, he and Pauline celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a large gathering of their family and friends in the home of their daughter Shirley, whose husband Elsworth Beam was a superior court judge for 20 years. Also in attendance that day was their other son, Southern (named in tribute to the University of Southern California), who was a high school social studies teacher for many years.
party in the 1920s, when her frilly ballet dress was set on fire by another girl when she accidentally touched a lit sparkler to the flammable material in her friend’s dress during a dance presentation in his neighbor’s backyard. Hearing her screams, Courtney hurdled a hedge between the properties, chased down the panicked girl, and then wrapped her face and upper body with his coat, thereby sparing her from a lifetime of facial scars. J. Ira Courtney is buried in the Rialto Park Cemetery in Rialto, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
. During the years 1909 through 1914, he won many awards and championships as both a sprinter and hurdler. At the Games in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, he competed in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes and the 400-meter relay. In his later years he became a champion handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
player.
Early years
J. Ira Courtney was born in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. According to Jim Daves, the author of The Glory of Washington (his book about the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
), it was there that young Ira first discovered his talent for sprinting when he and his brother outran some policemen when they were caught filching fruit in an orchard. After moving with his family to Seattle, Washington, Courtney competed on the Broadway High School track team. In 1909, he was the captain of Washington’s West Side Team in the state championship meet, where he won the low hurdles, and all three sprinting events, setting a new state record in the 220-yard dash of 22 and one-fifth of a second. (This was in the days long before modern technology which now allows races to be recorded in one hundredths of a second.) He also competed on Broadway’s swimming, baseball, and football teams. Courtney's victory in the 220-yard low hurdles on May 1, 1909, was the decisive race in Broadway's one-point victory over cross-town rival Lincoln High School. Later that year, he competed in track events for the Seattle Athletic Club.
College career
In 1910, Courtney attended the Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
, where he equaled the interscholastic record in the 40-yard dash of 4 and 3/5 of a second while competing on a wooden track at the snow-bound college. In 1911, Courtney returned to Seattle and enrolled at the University of Washington where his sprinting speed continued to improve. After a number of impressive victories in the spring of 1912, a growing movement of Courtney’s Seattle fans persuaded the Seattle Athletic Club to send him to the west coast Olympic trials that May in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. During the trials on May 17 at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
's track in Palo Alto
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, Courtney qualified for the Olympic team by winning the 100-meter dash, tying the then world Olympic record of 10.4 seconds which was set in 1908 by the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n sprinter Reggie Walker
Reggie Walker
Reginald Edgar Walker was a South African athlete and the 1908 Olympic champion in the 100 metres.-Biography:...
during the games in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. During the Olympic trials Courtney also won the 200-meter dash. By qualifying, Courtney became both the University of Washington's first Olympic athlete, and the first Olympic athlete from the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
.
1912 Olympic Games
At the Games, Courtney won both of his heats, but was later eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 metres eventAthletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metres
The men's 100 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics...
as well as the 200 metres competition
Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metres
The men's 200 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which has appeared at every edition of the Summer Olympics since the 1900 Summer Olympics...
. The 100-meter final was won by his teammate Ralph Craig, followed by two more Americans who won the silver and bronze. Craig also won the 200-meter final.
Courtney was selected for the 4x100 meter relay and would almost certainly have won a gold medal in that race if the U.S. team had not been eliminated in a semi-final round of the 4x100 metre contest
Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics - Men's 4x100 metre relay
The men's 4 x 100 metres relay was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 4x400 metre relay marked the first relays of equal legs in the athletics programme...
after two of the other men on the team failed to complete the baton pass in the allotted 20-meter zone on the first transfer. It would be the first and only time the United States team failed to win the 400-meter relay until 1960, when they were again eliminated for another passing fault during the finals at the Rome Olympics in which they would have set a world record if not for the disqualification. Courtney also played on the U.S. team in the baseball event
Baseball at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Baseball had its first appearance at the 1912 Summer Olympics as an exhibition sport. A game was played between the United States, the nation where the game was developed, and Sweden, the host nation. The game was held on Monday, 15 July 1912 and started at 10 a.m...
which was held as a demonstration sport
Demonstration sport
A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...
. Among his teammates, was Abel Kiviat, who was the silver medalist in the 1500 meters, and would go on to become America's longest-living Olympic medal-winner. He died in 1991 at the age of 99.
Today, the 1912 Olympics are best remembered as the "Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
Olympics," due to the Native-American's wins in both the pentathlon and the decathlon. Thorpe later had his medals taken away and his records expunged from the books when it was discovered that he had briefly played some semi-pro baseball before the games. In 1950 a panel of sports writers named him as the greatest athlete of the first half-century. After a long campaign to restore his reputation, Thorpe’s name was finally cleared, and his medals were returned to his family in 1982. In a 1964 interview with the San Bernardino County Sun, Courtney remembered his famous teammate as a "wonderful athlete...however he did like firewater." Courtney also thought it unfair that Thorpe's medals were taken away for playing under an assumed name because "they were all doing it in those days." Courtney didn't mention whether or not he was one of them.
Post-Olympic career
In 1913, Courtney enrolled at the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in Los Angeles, where he earned a law degree and continued running track. However, his shot at making another Olympic team in 1916 was dashed when the games were cancelled because of an event called World War I. In the 1920s he went on to win a number of Southern California doubles handball championships with his partner Fred Alney.
Family
In 1918, Courtney married Pauline Regina Hollingsworth, whose brother Jim was the Ventura CountyVentura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
district attorney for many years. Pauline would later become a prolific and award-winning painter, one of whose works, depicting the forging area at the Fontana
Fontana, California
Fontana is a city of 196,069 residents in San Bernardino County, California. Founded in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area...
Kaiser Steel Mill, hung in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. After practicing law for a short time, Courtney became a partner in an engineering contracting business that specialized in road building. Among their many projects was the highway from Barstow
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
to Baker
Baker, California
Baker is a census-designated place located in San Bernardino County, California, USA. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 735.Baker was founded as a station on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad in 1908,...
. During the depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
the partnership dissolved, and Courtney again practiced law for a few more years. Then, except for two periods when he was the San Diego County
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
Rent Attorney and worked for the State Pest Control registrar, Courtney was employed with the California Contractors' State License Board from 1940 to 1959. On May 1, 1959, Courtney returned to the practice of law when he entered into partnership with his son Norman P. Courtney in Fontana, California. In February of 1968, he and Pauline celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a large gathering of their family and friends in the home of their daughter Shirley, whose husband Elsworth Beam was a superior court judge for 20 years. Also in attendance that day was their other son, Southern (named in tribute to the University of Southern California), who was a high school social studies teacher for many years.
Death
On the morning of April 1, 1968, after he'd gone to open up the law office in downtown Fontana, Courtney thought he smelled gas, and attempted to air out the building. Unfortunately, some source (most likely a spark when he flipped on a light switch) ignited the gas, and the office was rocked by a violent explosion, which blew out windows and buckled several walls. Legal papers were singed and Courtney was buffeted about the room. After emerging from the office (with his necktie still ablaze), people from an adjacent building helped snuff out his burning clothes and called paramedics. His scalp, face, neck, chest, and hands were badly burned. Courtney was taken to Fontana's Kaiser Foundation Hospital, where he died of pneumonia on April 15, due to complications and infections from his burns. Ironically, Courtney had saved a young neighbor girl from similar severe injuries at a Fourth of JulyIndependence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
party in the 1920s, when her frilly ballet dress was set on fire by another girl when she accidentally touched a lit sparkler to the flammable material in her friend’s dress during a dance presentation in his neighbor’s backyard. Hearing her screams, Courtney hurdled a hedge between the properties, chased down the panicked girl, and then wrapped her face and upper body with his coat, thereby sparing her from a lifetime of facial scars. J. Ira Courtney is buried in the Rialto Park Cemetery in Rialto, California
Rialto, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Rialto had a population of 99,171. The population density was 4,434.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Rialto was 43,592 White, 16,236 African American, 1,062 Native American, 2,258 Asian, 361 Pacific Islander, 30,993 from other...
.