Percy Beard

Percy Morris Beard (January 26, 1908 – March 27, 1990) was an American college and international track and field athlete who specialized in the high hurdles event, and won an Olympic silver medal. Beard later became a nationally prominent college track and field coach at the University of Florida.

Athletic career

Percy Beard was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky in 1908. He became a world-class hurdler at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in Auburn, Alabama. After graduating from Auburn with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1929, he later competed for the New York Athletic Club in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) competition. He set a world record of 14.2 seconds in the 120-yard high hurdles in 1931 and tied the record again in 1934. A seven-time national AAU high hurdles champion, Beard won the silver medal in the 110-meter high hurdles event at the 1932 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, finishing second behind U.S. teammate George Saling.<ref>Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Percy Beard. Retrieved March 5, 2010.</ref>

Coaching career

Following his competition running career, Beard later became the head coach of the Florida Gators track and field at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, serving from 1937 to 1964.<ref name=ufmediaguide>2010 University of Florida Track & Field Media Guide Template:Webarchive, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 136–137 (2009). Retrieved April 26, 2011.</ref> Under Beard, the Gators won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) outdoor track and field championship twice and were the runners-up four times.<ref name=ufmediaguide/> While he was the Gators' head coach, he founded the Florida Relays in 1939, which became one of the country's top collegiate track and field events.<ref>GatorZone.com, Track & Field, History of the Florida Relays. Retrieved April 26, 2011.</ref> He used his Auburn civil engineering background to develop all-weather running tracks and unveiled the first full-scale all-weather track at the 1959 Florida Relays.<ref name=ustfcccabio>USTFCCCA Hall of Fame, Special Inductee, Percy Beard. Retrieved April 15, 2010.</ref>

Legacy and honors

Beard was a member of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame,<ref name=ustfcccabio/> and was elected to the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1981.<ref>USA Track & Field, Hall of Fame, Percy Beard. Retrieved March 5, 2010.</ref> The University of Florida honored Beard by naming its track and field facility, Percy Beard Track,<ref>GatorZone.com, Facilities, Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium. Retrieved April 15, 2010.</ref> for him in 1978.<ref>"Ex-Gator Coach Beard Dies, Leaves Mark On Track World," Orlando Sentinel (March 28, 1990). Retrieved April 15, 2010.</ref> He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as an "honorary letter winner" in 1976.<ref>F Club, Hall of Fame, Honorary Letter Winners. Retrieved December 19, 2014.</ref><ref>"Nine Named to UF Hall of Fame," St. Petersburg Times, p. 3C (April 24, 1976). Retrieved July 23, 2011.</ref>

Beard died in Gainesville in 1990; he was 82 years old.<ref name=nytimes3291990>"Percy Beard, Olympic Hurdler, 82," The New York Times (March 29, 1990). Retrieved April 15, 2010.</ref> He was survived by his wife Sara, and their three sons.<ref name=nytimes3291990/>

See also

• Florida Gators
• History of the University of Florida
• List of Auburn University people
• List of Olympic medalists in athletics (men)
• List of University of Florida Olympians
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
• University Athletic Association