Bud Spencer’s first major victory came at the 1926 AAU junior championships when he won the 440 y hurdles. The following year he won the NCAA 440 y flat and his time of 47.7 was the fastest clocking in the world that year. Spencer also topped the world lists in 1928 with a world record of 47.0 for 400 m in May, but at the Final Trials he placed no better than fifth and ran only in the relay at Amsterdam. He ran the second leg for the U.S. team that set a new world record and one week later in London he took the anchor stage for the team that set a world record for the 4×440 y relay (with George Baird, Morgan Taylor, and Ray Barbuti). Spencer was for many years the sports editor of the now defunct San Francisco News and after his retirement he served as assistant track coach at Stanford.
Personal Best: 400 – 47.0 (1928).
United States