James Edwin "Ted" Meredith (November 14, 1891 – November 2, 1957) was an American athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Biography
Meredith made the 1912 Olympic team shortly after his graduation from Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades in 1911 while he was a student at Mercersburg Academy under Scots-American coach Jimmy Curran. In Stockholm, he won a gold medal in the 800 m run with a world record 1:51.9. He ran on to the 880 yard mark and also set a world record for that distance with a 1:52.5. He won another gold medal on the 4 × 400 m relay team, also taking fourth in the 400 metres competition.
Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades now has the largest repository of Olympic great Meredith memorabilia in existence thanks to Jack Lemon, author of the book Immortal of the Cinder Path – The Saga of James 'Ted' Meredith who donated his entire collection of Meredith memorabilia recently.
Meredith retired from competition in 1917 and served in the army during World War I. He made a comeback for the 1920 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the semifinal of the 400 metres competition and ran on the relay team that finished fourth in the 4 × 400 m relay event.
Death and funeral
Meredith's funeral service was held in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Attendees were a roll call of early 20th century American and Pennsylvanian sports, including Jimmy Curran, Earl Eby, Donald Lippincott, Sherman Landers, Wallace McCurdy, Larry Brown, Joe Lockwood, Robert Bolger, Joe Berry, Allie Miller, Ed Harter, and Paul Costello.