About Charles Beetham
Charles Beetham was an American middle-distance runner. He was United States champion in the 800-meter run in 1936, 1939, 1940 and 1941 and NCAA champion in 1936; he entered the 1936 United States Olympic Trials as one of the favorites, but fell in the final and failed to qualify for the Olympics. As a sophomore at Ohio State, Beetham won the 1935 Big Ten championship in the 880-yard (804.7 m) run. In 1936 Beetham defended his Big Ten half-mile title in a meeting record 1:52.4 and won the NCAA 800-meter championship in 1:53.0. He also won the 880 yards in a dual meet against the University of Southern California on June 15, 1935; his winning time, 1:52.0, was the fastest in the world that year. At the national outdoor championships of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) a week before the Olympic Trials Beetham won a close race against John Woodruff; his winning time, 1:50.3, broke Ben Eastman's meeting record by one-tenth of a second.
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