William C. Prout
{{Short description|American athlete}}
William Christopher Prout (December 24, 1886 – August 4, 1927) was an American athlete.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78920 |title=William C. Prout |work=Olympedia |access-date=5 March 2021}} He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He was president of the American Olympic Committee.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}} He was also the tenth state deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from 1921 to 1924.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=33}} Prout stood for election to become the District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in 1926, but lost.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}}
Early life
William Prout was born in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts on December 24, 1886.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=33}} He was frail as a child.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=33}} He attended Boston Latin School and English High School in Andover, Massachusetts, and then Brown University and Boston University where he was president of his class.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=33}} Prout is in the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}}
Athletics
Prout won his preliminary heat of the 400 metres at the 1908 Summer Olympics with a time of 50.4 seconds. He advanced to the semifinals, where he was eliminated following a fourth and last place finish in his semifinal heat.
He was elected president of the American Athletic Union in 1921.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=33}} Prout founded the Boston Irish-American Athletic Association.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}} From 1926 until his death, he was president of the American Olympic Committee.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}}
Knights of Columbus
Prout served as the tenth state deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from 1921 to 1924.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=33}} He was also a Supreme Director from 1922 to 1927.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}} As a knight, he sponsored the resolution that led to the creation of the Columbian Squires.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}}
For his service to the Catholic Church, he was made a knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1924.{{sfn|Lapomarda|1992|p=35}}
References
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Works cited
- {{cite book | title = The Knights of Columbus in Massachusetts | first = Vincent A. | last = Lapomarda | publisher = Knights of Columbus Massachusetts State Council | edition = second | year = 1992 | location = Norwood, Massachusetts }}
- {{cite book | last = Cook | first = Theodore Andrea | year = 1908 | title = The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report | publisher = British Olympic Association | location = London}}
- {{cite web | last = De Wael | first = Herman | year = 2001 | url = http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1908.html | title = Athletics 1908 | work = Herman's Full Olympians | accessdate = 24 July 2006 | archive-date = 27 September 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060927093153/http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1908.html | url-status = dead }}
- {{cite web | last = Wudarski | first = Pawel | year = 1999 | url = http://olympic.w.interia.pl/ | title = Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich | accessdate = 24 July 2006 | language = pl | archive-date = 16 February 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090216130930/http://olympic.w.interia.pl/ | url-status = dead }}
External links
- {{sports links}}
{{Presidents of the United States Olympic Committee}}
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Category:Boston University people
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
Category:American male sprinters
Category:Boston University alumni
Category:Brown University alumni
Category:Boston Latin School alumni
Category:Presidents of the United States Olympic Committee
Category:People from West End, Boston
Category:Massachusetts State Deputies of the Knights of Columbus