Harry Hillman

Harry Livingston Hillman Jr. (September 8, 1881 – August 9, 1945) was an American athlete, winner of three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Harry Hillman was a member of three Olympic teams at the turn of the century, he also was an outstanding coach at Dartmouth College.

Hillman won three gold medals at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, taking the flat 400 m, the 200 m low hurdles and the 400 m hurdles. He had Olympic record times in all three events, but Hillman tripped one hurdle in the 400 m, which meant that his time of 53.0 could not be counted as a world record (the record stood at 57.2 since 1891). To which it must be added that the race was run over too low hurdles (76 cm in stead of the normal 92).

En route to Greece for the "intercalated" Olympics of 1906, Hillman was one of a half-dozen athletes who were injured by an enormous wave that washed over the deck of the ship. He finished only fifth in the 400 m, his only event that year.

Hillman won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 1908 Olympics. He and Charles Bacon of the USA went over the last hurdle simultaneously, but Bacon won the run to the tape to win in a world record 55.0. On April 24, 1909, Hillman and Lawson Robertson set a record that has never been equalled, running the 100 yd three-legged race in 11.0. He won four AAU titles, two each in the 200 m and 400 m hurdles.

The track coach at Dartmouth College from 1910 until his death, Hillman advised hurdlers to swallow raw eggs, which he believed to be "excellent for the wind and stomach." He was on the Olympic track and field coaching staff in 1924, 1928, and 1932 Olympics. One of his most famous athletes was hurdler Earl Thomson, a winner of gold medal in 110 m hurdles in 1920 Summer Olympics.