Hayes Jones
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Rome 1960 | 110m Hurdles | |
| Gold | Tokyo 1964 | 110m Hurdles | |
Hayes Wendell Jones (born August 4, 1938) is a former American athlete, winner of 110 m hurdles at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Hayes Jones was quite short for a hurdler (only 5 feet and 10 inches), but his outstanding speed, great start, and nearly perfect technique won him many championship titles.
Jones burst onto the international athletics scene by winning the 120 yd hurdles in 1958 AAU championships. He won four more AAU titles: 1960 and 1964 in 110 m hurdles and 1961 and 1963 in 120 yd hurdles.
In 1959, Jones, as an Eastern Michigan University representative, won the NCAA titles in 120 yd and 220 yd hurdles, following his first major international experience, when he won the 110 m hurdles at the Pan American Games.
A year later, at the Rome Olympics he was third behind teammates Lee Calhoun and Willie May, after which many observers believed he had reached his peak performance. But he returned to the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he won the gold medal by half a step ahead of teammate Blaine Lindgren. Jones also ran on a 4x100 m relay team that set a world record in 1961.
After retiring from competition, Jones became New York City's director of recreation in 1967. He has also worked in American Airlines and has his own baggage check-in service at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
In 2006 he ran for State Representative in Pontiac, Michigan to finish the term vacated by newly elected Pontiac Mayor Clarence Phillips and to win a full two year term starting in January, 2007. Jones was on the primary ballot twice; the first to finish the term left vacant by Phillips, and second, to be the Democratic candidate for the full two year term in the general election. Oddly Jones won the right to be the Democratic candidate for the remainder of the two months left on Phillips' term while Tim Melton will be the Democratic candidate for the full two year term.
| Olympic champions in men's 110 m hurdles |
|---|
| 1896: Thomas Curtis | 1900: Alvin Kraenzlein | 1904: Frederick Schule | 1904: Robert Leavitt | 1908: Forrest Smithson | 1912: Frederick Kelly | 1920: Earl Thomson | 1924: Daniel Kinsey | 1928: Sydney Atkinson | 1932: George Saling | 1936: Forrest Towns | 1948: William Porter | 1952: Harrison Dillard | 1956: Lee Calhoun | 1960: Lee Calhoun | 1964: Hayes Jones | 1968: Willie Davenport | 1972: Rod Milburn | 1976: Guy Drut | 1980: Thomas Munkelt | 1984: Roger Kingdom | 1988: Roger Kingdom | 1992: Mark McKoy | 1996: Allen Johnson | 2000: Anier García | 2004: Liu Xiang |
