Harvey Glance

Harvey Edward Glance (March 28, 1957 – June 12, 2023) was an American sprint runner.

He won gold medals in tandem with his teammates at the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1979 and 1987 Pan American Games, and 1987 World Championships.

Glance equaled the then 100 m world record of 9.9 twice in 1976: first on April 3 in Columbia, South Carolina and then a month later in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

As an Auburn University student, Glance won the NCAA 100 m championships in 1976 and 1977 and 200 m championships in 1976.

In 1976, he also recorded the automatic timings of 10.12 s and 10.11 s that were world junior records for 100 m.

Glance finished first in the 100 m at the 1976 U.S. Olympic Trials.

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Glance was a disappointing fourth in 100 m, as the United States failed to win a medal in the event.

He then ran the opening leg in the gold medal winning American 4 × 100 m relay team.

Always aware of the importance of public relations and civic responsibility, Glance was a regular visitor as a student to a veterans hospital and was selected as one of five student-athletes from the 1976 Olympics team to be invited to an NCAA Honors Luncheon with the President of the United States.

His coach, Mel Rosen, was proud to state "Harvey's what I call world-class – as an athlete and as a man."

Glance died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mesa, Arizona, on June 12, 2023, at age 66.

Glance was ranked among the best in the U.S. and the world in both the 100 and 200 m sprint events over the incredible spread of 12 seasons from 1976 to 1987, according to the votes of the experts of Track & Field News.

At the 1979 Pan American Games, Glance was second in 100 m and won the gold medal as a member of American 4 × 100 m relay team.

He was also second in 4 × 100 m relay at the 1979 Athletics World Cup.

Glance was also in line to replace James Sanford in the individual 100 m race if Sanford had not recovered in time from a muscle injury.

Glance again qualified for the team for the Olympic team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, finishing second in the 100 m. However, due to the boycott, he did not compete at the Olympics but competed in the Liberty Bell Classic (Olympic Boycott Games) instead, winning silver in the 100 m and gold in the relay.

He was a recipient of one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.

Glance worked first as assistant coach at Auburn University (1990–91) and then became their head coach.

In recognition of his achievements, in 1996 he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and, most notably, he received in 2008 the Congressional Gold Medal of Freedom.

In 1997, he became head Men's track and field coach at the University of Alabama.

While there, he established the 'Crimson Tide' as one of the USA's best college teams, and was able to attract many top athletes to the university including Kirani James (World 400 m champion in 2011 and Olympic 400 m champion in 2012).

At the national level, Glance assumed the following roles:

In April 2011, Glance announced he was to retire from his role at Alabama at the end of the season.

Following his retirement, Glance continued to work as the personal coach of Kirani James, assisting in his journey to become an Olympic champion.

Glance was born in Phenix City, Alabama, the son of Wheeler and Ella Glance, and was educated at Central High School in Phenix City.

There he was mentored in track by coach Joe Henderson, who had recognized Glance's special talent.

After high school, he earned a degree in Health & Human Performance at Auburn University.

Glance always recognized his potential as a coach and volunteered to work as one in Arizona whilst still an athlete.