July 24, 2009

UNIONTOWN, Pa.-University of Pittsburgh track legend and Olympic gold medalist John Woodruff was honored as one of nine inductees into the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame, this past Saturday, at the Lakeside Party Center in Uniontown, Pa. A member of the organization's first class, Woodruff joined such names as Heisman Trophy winner John Lujack, Chuck Davis, Bobby Locke, Sandy Stephens, Ron Sepic, Wil Robinson, coach Abe Everhart and Tod Trent.

Woodruff began his track career running at Connellsville High School, just thirty minutes outside of Uniontown. By the time Woodruff graduated from Connellsville, he owned school, Fayette County, district and state records in the 880-yard run plus a national mile record with a 4:23.4 winning time.

His success carried into his collegiate career as Woodruff finished second at the National AAU meet and first at the Olympic Trials, earning him a spot on the U.S. Olympic team that traveled to Berlin for the 1936 Summer Olympic games. And that was in his first year at Pitt. Later, he would compete in one of the most controversial Olympic Games to date, as he came from behind in the 800 meter race to capture a gold medal with a time of 1:52.9.

His historical win marked the first of four gold medals for African Americans at the 1936 games, held during the Nazi regime in Germany. With Woodruff's victory, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's myth of Aryan racial superiority had been disproven.

After his Olympic debut Woodruff never lost a race, and finished his collegiate career with one AAU title in the 800 meters in 1937, won both the 400 meter and 800 meter IC4A titles from 1937-1939 and made yet another international appearance while competing with the U.S. national team at the World Relays, where his foursome won the 4x800 meter relay event.

Woodruff graduated from Pitt in 1939 with a degree in sociology and earned his Masters from NYU in 1941. That same year he began his military career where he served the United States until 1957, with stints in World War II and the Korean War.

Woodruff passed away at the age of 92, on October 30, 2007. Today, his gold medal is displayed at the Hillman Library on the University of Pittsburgh's main campus.