It was twenty-seven years since Jerome Biffle won the gold medal in the 1952 Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland, but that victory made him the first track star to be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, class of 1968.
En route to his success in Helsinki, he accomplished many honors in high school competition at Denver’s East High School and was acclaimed the “finest track athlete in the University of Denver’s history.”
In 1983, he won the Robert Russell Memorial Award as the outstanding amateur athlete in the Rocky Mountain area, and in 1959, he was named, along with another Olympic hero, Jesse Owens, to the Drake Relays Hall of Fame.
Biffle was a guidance counselor and student leader at East High School, an avid golfer with a four handicap and an assistant track coach.
His athletic career began to gather momentum at East High School where he was All-City and All-State in track and a member of Coach Pat Panek’s 1945 undefeated state championship football team.
For three years, he was all-conference at the University of Denver, where he paced the Pioneer’s to their only Skyline Conference title in 1949. An unbeaten season in 1950 earned him the designation as the nation’s finest amateur track star.
He culminated his career for all practical purposes in Helsinki, winning the prized gold medal in the broad jump.
The first track star to be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame