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violent explosion, which blew out windows and buckled several walls. Legal papers were singed and
Courtney was buffeted about the room. After emerging from the office (with his necktie still ablaze), people from an adjacent building helped snuff out his burning clothes and called paramedics. His scalp, face, neck, chest, and hands were badly burned. Courtney was taken to Fontana's Kaiser Foundation Hospital, where he died of pneumonia on April 15, due to complications and infections from his burns. Ironically, Courtney had saved a young neighbor girl from similar severe injuries at a
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California. In
February 1968, he and Pauline celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a large gathering of their family and friends in the home of their daughter Shirley, whose husband Elsworth Beam was a superior court judge for 20 years. Also in attendance that day was their other son, Southern (named in tribute to the University of Southern California), who was a high school social studies teacher for many years.
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which now allows races to be recorded in one hundredths of a second.) He also competed on
Broadway’s swimming, baseball, and football teams. Courtney's victory in the 220-yard low hurdles on May 1, 1909, was the decisive race in Broadway's one-point victory over cross-town rival Lincoln High School. Later that year, he competed in track events for the Seattle Athletic Club.
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party in the 1920s, when her frilly ballet dress was set on fire by another girl when she accidentally touched a lit sparkler to the flammable material in her friend’s dress during a dance presentation in his neighbor’s backyard. Hearing her screams, Courtney hurdled a hedge between the properties,
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On the morning of April 1, 1968, after he'd gone to open up the law office in downtown
Fontana, Courtney thought he smelled gas, and attempted to air out the building. Unfortunately, some source (most likely a spark when he flipped on a light switch) ignited the gas, and the office was rocked by a
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track team. In 1909, he was the captain of
Washington’s West Side Team in the state championship meet, where he won the low hurdles, and all three sprinting events, setting a new state record in the 220-yard dash of 22 and one-fifth of a second. (This was in the days long before modern technology
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in Los
Angeles, where he earned a law degree and continued running track. However, his shot at making another Olympic team in 1916 was dashed when the games were cancelled because of an event called World War I. In the 1920s he went on to win a number of Southern California doubles handball
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Rent
Attorney and worked for the State Pest Control registrar, Courtney was employed with the California Contractors' State License Board from 1940 to 1959. On May 1, 1959, Courtney returned to the practice of law when he entered into partnership with his son Norman P. Courtney in Fontana,
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after two other members faulted the baton pass. It was the first and only time the United States team failed to win the 4 × 100 m relay until 1960, when they were eliminated for the same reason. Courtney also played on the U.S. team in the
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chased down the panicked girl, and then wrapped her face and upper body with his coat, thereby sparing her from a lifetime of facial scars. J. Ira
Courtney is buried in the Rialto Park Cemetery in
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Courtney was selected for the 4×100 meter relay and would almost certainly have won a gold medal in that race if the U.S. team had not been eliminated in a
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district attorney for many years. Pauline would later become a prolific and award-winning painter, one of whose works, depicting the forging area at the
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in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay events. In 1909–1914, he won several championships as a sprinter and hurdler, and later became a
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the partnership dissolved, and
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At the Games, Courtney won both of his heats, but was eliminated in the semi-finals of the
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The Glory of
Washington: The People and Events That Shaped Washington's Athletic Tradition
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In 1918, Courtney married Pauline Regina Hollingsworth, whose brother Jim was the
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169:(April 27, 1889 – April 15, 1968) was an American sprinter, who competed at the
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Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics
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Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
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303:championships with his partner Fred Alney.
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497:Track and field athletes from Minneapolis
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482:Broadway High School (Seattle) alumni
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527:Sportspeople from Rialto, California
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298:In 1913, Courtney enrolled at the
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492:Baseball players from Minneapolis
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234:. During the trials on May 17 at
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440:Daves, Jim; Porter, Tom (2000).
319:Kaiser Steel Mill, hung in the
222:In 1910, Courtney attended the
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185:J. Ira Courtney was born in
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405:. trackfield.brinkster.net
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199:University of Washington
111:72 kg (159 lb)
90:University of Washington
66:April 15, 1968 (aged 78)
487:American male sprinters
224:Phillips Exeter Academy
195:The Glory of Washington
147:Achievements and titles
86:Phillips Exeter Academy
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228:Exeter, New Hampshire
142:Seattle Athletic Club
250:during the games in
211:Broadway High School
197:(his book about the
171:1912 Summer Olympics
39:Personal information
33:Ira Courtney c. 1912
321:Library of Congress
294:Post-Olympic career
236:Stanford University
160:200 m – 21.8 (1912)
158:100 m – 10.8 (1912)
70:Fontana, California
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389:2012-08-25 at the
356:Rialto, California
262:1912 Olympic Games
16:American sportsman
416:"J. Ira Courtney"
256:Pacific Northwest
167:John Ira Courtney
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238:'s track in
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134:100 m, 200 m
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477:1968 deaths
472:1889 births
288:Abel Kiviat
187:Minneapolis
181:Early years
51:Minneapolis
466:Categories
362:References
333:depression
279:semi-final
232:California
207:Washington
420:Olympedia
246:sprinter
240:Palo Alto
191:Minnesota
152:Personal
124:Athletics
55:Minnesota
425:16 April
387:Archived
274:events.
177:player.
175:handball
130:Event(s)
325:Barstow
317:Fontana
203:Seattle
154:best(s)
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307:Family
252:London
108:Weight
100:Height
344:Death
329:Baker
272:200 m
268:100 m
121:Sport
116:Sport
446:ISBN
427:2021
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139:Club
63:Died
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