Bobby Morrow, Who Ran to Stardom at the 1956 Olympics, Dies at 84

Morrow’s success in Melbourne propelled him into a year of national fame. He was on the covers of Life, Sport and Sports Illustrated, which named him its Sportsman of the Year. He visited the White House, appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and received the James A. Sullivan Award in 1957 as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.

He had hoped to defend his titles at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. But, to his frustration, he never got there.

Bobby Joe Morrow was born on Oct. 15, 1935, in San Benito, in southern Texas, and grew up on a farm nearby, outside Rangerville, where his father, Bob Floyd, raised cotton and carrots. His mother, Mattie Lucille (Danley) Morrow, was a homemaker.

Morrow’s brilliance as a high school runner attracted college recruiters from around the country. But he chose to stay in Texas, at Abilene Christian College (now a university), and became its star sprinter.

“Bobby had a fluidity of motion like nothing I’d ever seen,” Oliver Jackson, the track coach at Abilene Christian, told Sports Illustrated in 2000. “He could run a 220 with a root beer float on his head and never spill a drop.”

In 1956, Morrow won the 100- and 200-meter races at the N.C.A.A. track and field championships. He earned his trip to Melbourne with victories at the same distances during the United States Olympic trials.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/sports/olympics/bobby-morrow-dead.html