About Willie Applegarth
William Reuben Applegarth was a British track and field athlete and winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1912 Summer Olympics. At the Stockholm Olympics, Applegarth was eliminated in the semifinals of the 100 m competition and won a bronze medal in the 200 m. Shortly after the Olympics, Applegarth repeated Donald Lippincott's world record in the 100 m of 10.6 and set a new world record of 21.2 in the 200 m in the 1914 AAA meeting. As the anchoring leg in the British 4 × 100 m relay team, he won a gold medal despite finishing second after the US in the semifinal. The United States was later disqualified for a fault in passing the baton; the same mistake was made in the final by the world record holder and main favourite German team.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.