Eddie Southern set national prep records at 220y and 440y before taking up the hurdles. In finishing second to Glenn Davis at the 1956 Final Trials, he ran the second fastest 400 m hurdles in history (49.7); he again lost to Davis at the Olympics. Southern graduated from the University of Texas in 1959 and won the NCAA 440y flat that year. At the 1959 Pan American Games he won silver with the 4×400 m relay team (with Josh Culbreath, Jack Yerman, and the non-Olympian Dave Mills). Southern was world ranked in the 400 hurdles three times - 1956 (#2), 1960 (#6), and 1961 (#8); and twice in the 400 metres - 1958 (#2) and 1959 (#1).
Personal Bests: 100y – 9.5 (1958); 220y – 20.5s (1958); 400 – 45.5y (1958); 110H – 14.1y (1957); 400H – 49.7 (1956).
United States