Born inMontgomery, Alabama, in 1941,[2] Carr moved with his family toDetroit, Michigan when he was young.[3]
Prior to bringing his athletic talents toArizona State University (ASU), Carr was a state champion sprinter forNorthwestern High School in Detroit having posted a 100-yard time of 9.3 seconds. While competing for the ASUSun Devils, he won three national titles; along the way settingworld records at 220yards and as a member of the Sun Devil 4 × 440 yardrelay team.
Henry Carr won the 1963NCAA title at 200 meters in 20.5; the same year he ran 20.69 to tiePaul Drayton for the USA title. Twice that season Carr ran world records; a non-ratified 20.4 for 220 yards and, three days later in a college triangular meet, a 20.3 for 220 yards. Henry Carr ran even faster in 1964; setting a world record of 20.2 for 220 yards. He also defeated Drayton into second place to win the national title.[4]
It was at the 1964 Olympics where Carr would achieve his greatest fame; Carr won the 200 meters (in an Olympic Record time) and anchored the winning 4 × 400 meter relay team to a world record 3:00.7 (withOllan Cassell,Mike Larrabee andUlis Williams).
Carr had a fright in his qualification for the Olympics. He had won the semi-final trials held in New York in July and only had to prove his fitness at the final trials in September in Los Angeles. However, he was well beaten into fourth place in the final there and with only 3 to qualify he could have been eliminated. His earlier win was enough though to convince the selectors that he should go to the Olympics.[5][6][7]
After he left the NFL he found difficulty in adjusting and finding work. He found new purpose in 1973 when he became aJehovah's Witness.[1][3] In the mid-1970s he was described as living a simple life with his family outsideAtlanta,Georgia.[9] In later life, Carr became a Jehovah's Witness elder, and was reported to have done contracting work and owned a restaurant.[3] He died of cancer on May 29, 2015, in Griffin, Georgia.[10]
Carr was a 1975 Charter inductee in the Arizona State Sun Devils Athletics Hall of Fame.[11] In 1997, he was inducted into theUSA Track and Field Hall of Fame.[12]
Carr was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 100, 200 and 400 m sprint events in the period 1962–64, according to the votes of the experts ofTrack and Field News.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
