 Sime at the1960 Olympics | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David William Sime | |||||||||||
| Nationality |  United States | |||||||||||
| Born | (1936-07-25)July 25, 1936 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Died | January 12, 2016(2016-01-12) (aged 79) Miami, Florida, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Education | Duke University | |||||||||||
| Occupation | Ophthalmologist | |||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg)[1] | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Track | |||||||||||
Event | Sprinting | |||||||||||
| Club | Duke Blue Devils | |||||||||||
Medal record
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David William Sime (/sɪm/; July 25, 1936 – January 12, 2016) was an Americansprinter andophthalmologist. He won a silver medal in the100-meter dash (photo finish) at the1960 Olympic Games, and held several sprint records during the late 1950s.[2][3][4][5][6]
Sime was born on July 25, 1936, inPaterson, New Jersey, the son of Evelyn and Charles Sime,[7] neither of whom graduated from high school.[8] He grew up inFair Lawn and playedfootball andbaseball atFair Lawn High School, but did not run track. He was a charter member of the Fair Lawn High School Athletics Hall of Fame.[9][8]
Sime applied to theUnited States Military Academy atWest Point, as his dream was to become a pilot, but discovered he wascolor blind and accepted abaseballscholarship toDuke University inNorth Carolina.[10]
Sime was a member of Duke'sbaseball andtrack and field teams, and playedfootball for a season in 1958 while a first-yearmedical school student.[1][8] His beginnings in track were accidental: his 100-yard dash on an unmowed grass surface in baseball shoes was a rapid 9.8 seconds, and the coaches soon asked him to join the track team. Opting not to play freshman football, he had gone out for fall track to stay in shape for baseball.[11] Sime hit over .400 as a freshman and had the intention continuing in baseball for coach Ace Parker, but his success during winter track changed that. Parker was a former multi-sport athlete and recognized the exceptional speed and Olympic potential; Sime focused on track in 1956, then split time between both sports in 1957.[12][13][14]
Sime achieved his greatest collegiate victory as a 19-year-old sophomore at theDrake Relays in April 1956, where he was named the meet's outstanding performer after setting a meet record in the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds;[15] he handedBobby Morrow ofAbilene Christian his first loss in over thirty races in the 100, and was inducted into the Drake Relays Athlete Hall of Fame in 1959.[16] Sime was named theACC Athlete of the Year in 1956 for his accomplishments in track and baseball. Prior to theOlympic trials, he and Morrow appeared on the cover ofSports Illustrated in 1956.[10][17]
Sime was selected by theDetroit Lions in the 29th round (341st overall) of the1959 NFL draft, but he opted not to play football professionally and continued at medical school.
In 2010, Duke named him their most outstanding athlete of the 20th century.[10][18]
Sime was unable to make the1956 Olympics inMelbourne at age twenty due to a leg injury in his first attempt to ride a horse.[10][19] Four years later (and midway through medical school), he competed inRome and won a silver medal in the100 meters, edged out byArmin Hary ofGermany in aphoto finish.[5]
Sime anchored the U.S. to an apparent victory in the4 × 100 m relay, posting a world record time of 39.4 seconds. The team was disqualified because at the first exchange from Budd to Norton, Norton started too early and the exchange happened outside the changeover box.[5][20] During his career, he held world records at 100 yards, 220 yards, and the220 yd low hurdles.
During the Rome Olympics, Sime worked with theCIA trying to entice Soviet long-jumperIgor Ter-Ovanesyan to defect; the attempt failed.[21]
Sime never played sports professionally. He graduated in the top 10% of his class at theDuke University School of Medicine. He then practiced medicine as anophthalmologist inFlorida, where he was a pioneer inintraocular lens implants.[10][18]
Sime's eldest child, Sherrie, went to theUniversity of Virginia, where she was the school's top-rankedsingles tennis player. His son Scott was a statewrestling champion and all-state football player atCoral Gables Senior High School before going on to his father's alma mater at Duke, where he was a startingfullback.[4][22]
Sime's youngest child, Lisa, attendedStanford University, where she was a standoutsoccer player. There she met her future husband,Ed McCaffrey, aCardinal wide receiver who went on to win threeSuper Bowls and aPro Bowl during a 13-yearNFL career.[4][10] Three of their first four sons (his grandsons):Max,Christian, andLuke McCaffrey, are anAmerican football coach and a formerNFLwide receiver, an NFLrunning back, and an NFLwide receiver, respectively.
Sime died of cancer on January 12, 2016, at the age of 79.[6]
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