The greatest athlete in Penn State history is probably unknown to the new generation of the Nittany Lion fans and maybe even many older denizens of the Nittany Lion Nation.
Barney Ewell should be hailed worldwide in the same esteemed atmosphere as track and field superstar Jesse Owens. Ewell never had a chance to win gold medals as Owens did at the 1936 Olympic Games in Munich. The four gold medals earned by Owens, an African-American, publicly refuted Hitler's outrageous claim of a superior Aryan race, embarrassing Hitler and his Nazi regime's followers worldwide.
Ewell succeeded Owens in the late 1930s and early 1940s as the world's best sprinter. His formal name was Norwood Henry Ewell but everyone called him Barney. He was still a freshman at McCaskey High School in Lancaster when he was on Penn State's campus for the time in 1935 to compete in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) track and field championship events. Barney returned every year for the PIAA meet and that made it easy for Nittany Lion head coach Chick Werner to recruit him.
By the end of Barney's sophomore year in the spring of 1940, he held the world record in the 60-yard dash and had won the NCAA 100- and 200- yard titles. However, the 1940 Olympic Games were cancelled due to the start of World War II in September of 1939.
Barney continued competing for most of the war years while getting his education, being inducted into the army in June of 1942 and returning to get his degree with the class of 1947. He continued competing in the early post-war years and when the Olympic Games resumed in 1948 in London, he was ready to prove himself at 30 years old, a "very old man" in competitive track and far past his prime.
The world's two reigning sprinters were 25-year-old Harrison Dillard, a fellow African-American like Ewell and Owens, and 23-year-old Mel Patton, who was white. In the 100-meter race, Ewell and Dillard hit the finish line at the same time. A photo determined the winner was Dillard crossing the line first by an eye lash. Then in the 200-meter, Ewell finished second behind Patton.
Barney was not scheduled for another event. But when the lead-off man for the United States 4x100-meter relay team, Ed Conwell, became sick, the Olympic staff inserted Barney as Conwell's replacement. On Saturday August 7, 1948, the U.S. team won the race. England protested, claiming Ewell botched the exchange with another African-American, Lorenzo Wright, and the judges disqualified the Americans subject to viewing film of the race.
Four days later the Olympics officials announced the video had proven the Americans won, and Ewell finally won a gold medal.
Norwood Henry Ewell died on April 4, 1996, but you can see his gold medal today at the Penn State All-Sports Museum.
