Louis Jones

Louis ("Lou") Woodard Jones (born January 15, 1932 – died February 3, 2006) is a former American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4x400 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Born in New Rochelle, New York, Lou Jones won the 400 m at the 1955 Pan-American Games, where he set a new world record of 45.4. He was also a member of the gold medal winning American 4x400 m relay team.

Just four months before the Melbourne Olympics, Jones broke his own 400 m world record, clocking 45.2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the US Olympic Trials, thus becoming a main favourite at this event in Melbourne.

But in the Olympic 400 m final, Jones was off form, and managed to finish only in a disappointing fifth place, 1.50 seconds behind fellow teammate Charlie Jenkins. A few days later, Jones partly compensated for his disappointment, running the second leg in the gold medal winning American 4x400 m relay team.

References

* [http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060207/NEWS02/602070333/1018 "Olympic gold medallist Louis Jones of New Rochelle dies" "Westchester Journal News" 7 February 2005]

Other

*Lou Jones rugby league player (Australian).