Hall of Fame
If there was a championship around, Mal Whitfield won it.
Whitfield won six AAU titles between 1949 and 1954 and won Olympic gold medals at 800 meters in 1948 and 1952 and as a member of the 4x400 relay team in 1948. Whitfield also won a silver medal on the 4x400 relay team in 1952 and a bronze medal at 400 meters in 1948.
Described as a stylist who cared more about winning than setting records, Whitfield won 66 half-mile races between June of 1948 and the end of the 1954 season. He also set world records at 880 yards and 1,000 meters and he set the American record at 440 yards.
Whitfield won the 1954 Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
Whitfield came to Cal State L.A. as a 31-year-old college senior in 1956 and set seven school records, including the 800-meter record that still stands today. He was undefeated during the collegiate season that year and won CCAA championships in the 440 and 880.
He was Cal State L.A.’s Athlete of the Year in 1956.
