Black Athletes have been competing at the Penn Relays for almost as long as the event has been running. First held in 1895, the Penn Relays have attracted top athletes from around the world to the uniquely configured 9 lane track in Philadelphia. Though access to Track & Field for Black athletes has been contentious, if not initially non-existent in the early years of the sport, the Penn Relays has provided opportunities, albeit gradually, for Black athletes to showcase their talents since the early 1900s.
One of the first Black athletes to compete at the Relays was John Baxter Taylor in the early 1900’s. Taylor had attended Penn, first as a student at Wharton in 1903 and later Penn’s Medical school. He was a standout on the track team during his years there, but his first introduction to the Penn Relays came when he was still just a student at Brown Preparatory School. There he was part of the winning One-Mile Intercollegiate Relay Championship team. Taylor would later go on to become the first African American to win an Olympic Gold medal, running the 3rd leg as part of the 1908 USA Medley Relay in London.
Taylor was one of the first at Franklin Field, but participation from Black athletes would only grow from there. Though not without backlash.
The Penn Relays had always had a policy of acceptance. In the 1910s an administrator of a participating school threatened to pull his team out of the relays if Black athletes were allowed to compete. But officials at Penn dismissed the administrators’ threats and maintained their policy of including Black athletes. But the Penn Relays was an exception in this regard. During that time at the University of Pennsylvania, Black athletes were not allowed to compete in other sports such as basketball or football. Track & Field was their only option at the school. Penn Relays provided an opportunity for Black athletes to showcase their talent that they otherwise could not have elsewhere.
Fast forward to the 1950s and at this point, hundreds, if not thousands of Black athletes had been part of relays, races and records at Penn Relays. 1955 saw a still yet to be known Wilt Chamberlain of Overbrook High School win the Boys Shot Put. Chamberlain was an all-around athlete having excelled in everything from the high jump to the 440-yard dash. A winning Shot Put throw at the Relays was a precursor to the success he would garner on the Basketball court. Chamberlain would go on to become one of the greatest NBA players in history, notably scoring 100 points in a single game, a record that has yet to be surpassed to this day. His accomplishments at Penn Relays are representative of the many young athletes who go on to successful record breaking careers in the years after their time at Franklin Field.
An example of this is on display at the 1979 Penn Relays when a young Renaldo Nehemiah is competing for the University of Maryland. There, he led his team to championship wins in the Shuttle Hurdle, 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Nehemiah’s performances earned him the Penn Relays MVP award in 1979. But it would be just a few years later where he truly shocked the world, becoming the first person in history to break the 13 second barrier in the 110m Hurdles with a world record of 12.93 seconds. Nehemiah was undoubtably an amazing athlete prior to his time at Maryland and his MVP award at the Penn Relays, but his performance in 1979 foreshadowed the legendary accomplishments he went on to have in the sport.
Black Women at the Penn Relays
Women were first allowed to compete at the Penn Relays in 1962 where a single event, the 100 yard dash, was added to the calendar. Though women and men are equally represented at the meet today, the introduction of that single race was emblematic of women’s participation in the sport at the time, still questioned by many and only gaining gradual acceptance as a whole. But Black women made their presence known at the first iteration of the Relays as Willye White took home the 100 yard dash win in an extraordinary 10.9 seconds. White was a trailblazer for Women’s sports when she later became the first 5-time Olympian in American history, competing in every Olympics from 1956-1972, which included 2 Silver medals in 1956 and 1964.
White’s performance at the Penn Relays was followed by a notable Wilma Rudolph who would also win an edition of the 100 yard dash in the 60s. At that time though, Rudolph had already become a star in the sport and role model for Black women. At the 1960 Olympic Games, Rudolph won Gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, the first Black Woman to do so. She truly opened the eyes for many to what was possible for Black women in sports.
Rudolph competed for Tennessee State University as a Tigerbelle, one of the few schools that provided Black women with educational and athletic opportunities in the mid 20th century. But after Rudolph in the 60’s, Chandra Cheeseborough followed in her footsteps with success at Penn Relays.
Also competing as a Tennessee State Tigerbelle, Cheeseborough won the 100m, 4x100m and 4x400m at the 1981 Penn Relays, setting meet records in each event. Cheeseborough would also go on to become a 3-time Olympic medalist winning 4x100m and 4x400m Golds as well as 400m Silver at the 1984 Olympics.
A teammate of Cheeseborough at the 1984 Olympic was Benita Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won the Olympic Gold medal in the 100m Hurdles at the 1984 Games, but in the three years prior, dominated the hurdles at Franklin Field. She set the Penn Relays hurdle record in 1981, 1982 and 1983 while competing for the University of Tennessee, before going on to win the Olympic Development event at the Relays in 1984.
Finally, fast forward to the 1990’s and 2000’s and the Penn Relays has become a mainstay on the Track & Field calendar and more notably, dominated by Black athletes at all levels, from high school, to college to professional.
One of the most iconic moments came in 2001 when 4-time Olympic Gold medalist Michael Johnson was on his retirement tour around the globe. His final race on US soil would be anchoring the USA’s 4x400m relay at the Penn Relays in the 2nd annual USA vs The World competition. After a lap around the track, Johnson would cross the line first, baton raised to the sky, celebrating the win for his team. He would then circle back for another lap around the track, this time waving to the crowd in honor of his final race in the United States, a historic moment for Penn Relays and for the sport.
From the first Olympics in 1896 to today, the opportunities for Black athletes to participate in Track & Field have continued to grow. Though not perfect, the Penn Relays seems to have been ahead of the curve in terms of access to the sport for Black athletes, giving them the chance to showcase their talent and abilities. From Wilma Rudolph and Michael Johnson, to John Baxter Taylor and Chandra Cheeseborough. Though not an exhaustive list, these are just some of the Black athletes that have paved the way for the next generation to compete in a sport they love, at a meet that has garnered the respect from many around the world. And today, thousands of athletes are able to continue that tradition at the Penn Relays, passing the baton to future generations.
