Ray Barbuti

Ray Barbuti
Personal information
Full name Raymond James Barbuti
Born June 12, 1905 (1905-06-12)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died July 8, 1988 (1988-07-09) (aged 83)
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
Sport Running
Club NYAC, New York
Medal record
Athletics
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
1928 Amsterdam 400 metres
1928 Amsterdam 4×400 m relay

Raymond "Ray" James Barbuti (June 12, 1905 – July 8, 1988) was an American football player and sprint runner who won two gold medals at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

In 1924 while playing fullback at Lawrence, Long Island, New York high school, Barbuti set a New York state record, which still stands (2013), scoring eight touchdowns in one game. He attended Syracuse University where he won the IC4A championship in the 400 m sprint in 1928 in a time of 48.8 seconds. The same year he won the AAU Championship in the 400 m dash in a time of 51.4. He played fullback on the Syracuse football teams of 1926, 1927, and 1928 and was the captain of both the football and athletics teams.

His trainer, Peter Poole, very seldom let him run his two preferred distances, the 200 yd and the 400 yd, in the same competition, so Barbuti chose the 400 m and 4 × 400 m at the 1928 Summer Olympics and won both, setting a world record in the relay at 3:14.2. Next week he set another world record, at 3:13.4 in the 4×440 yd relay in London in a match against Great Britain.

During World War II Barbuti served with the US Air Force and was awarded the Air Medal and the Bronze Star. He retired in the rank of major and became deputy director of the Civil Defense Commission for New York State and director of the New York State Office of Disaster Preparedness. In his spare time he acted as a referee in more than 500 intercollegiate football games.

Trivia

On December 24, 1957, Ray Barbuti appeared as a "contestant imposter" on the game show To Tell the Truth. This episode is still in existence and was most recently aired by GSN on January 20, 2009. The host was Bud Collyer and the panel consisted of Betsy Palmer, Don Ameche, Kitty Carlisle and Hy Gardner.

Ray Barbuti, Emerson Spencer, Fred Alderman and George Baird at the 1928 Olympics
Barbuti (right) winning the 400 m event at the 1928 Olympics

References

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