Melvin Pender
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1968 Mexico City | 4x100 m relay | |
Melvin ("Mel") Pender, Jr. (born October 31, 1937) is a former American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Pender took up athletics in the army, where his incredible quickness was noticed in camp football games and he was selected to the 1964 Olympic Team. But in Tokyo, Pender was hampered by injury and managed to finish only sixth in 100 m.
At the Mexico Olympics, Pender finished sixth in 100 m and ran the second leg in the American 4x100 m relay team that won the gold medal and set a new world record of 38.19.
After his athletics career Pender earned a bronze star in Vietnam and worked as the head track coach at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
| Olympic champions in men's 4×100 m relay |
|---|
| 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 |
| 1968 United States Charles Greene, Melvin Pender, Ronnie Ray Smith & Jim Hines |
