View source for Dave Sime

{{Short description|American sprinter and ophthalmologist}}
{{use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name           = Dave Sime
| image          = Dave Sime 1960.jpg
| image_size     = 210px
| caption        = Sime at the [[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|1960 Olympics]]
| birth_name     =
| fullname       = David William Sime
| nationality    = {{USA}}
| residence      =
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1936|07|25}}
| birth_place    = [[Paterson, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date     = {{death date and age|2016|1|12|1936|07|25}}
| death_place    = [[Miami]], [[Florida]], U.S.
| resting_place  =
| height         = 6 ft 3 in
| weight         = 195 lb<ref name=joindkfb>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k_RVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cuIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5906%2C1359807 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Dave Sime joins Duke football team |date=October 8, 1958 |page=2C }}</ref>
| country        =
| education      = [[Duke University]], 1958<br>[[Duke University School of Medicine|M.D.]] 1962
| occupation     = [[Ophthalmology|Ophthalmologist]]
| sport          = [[Track and field|Track]]
| event          = sprint running
| club           = [[Duke Blue Devils]], [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]]
| retired        =
| olympics       =
| highestranking =
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{Medal|Country|the<br>{{USA}}}}
{{Medal|Olympics}}
{{Medal|Silver  | [[1960 Summer Olympics|1960 Rome]] | [[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 m]]}}
}}
'''David William Sime'''  ({{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|m}}; July 25, 1936 – January 12, 2016) was an American [[Sprint (running)|sprinter]], multi-sport athlete at [[Duke University]], and a pioneering [[Ophthalmology|ophthalmologist]]. He&nbsp;won a silver medal in the [[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100-meter dash]] ([[photo finish]]) at the [[1960 Summer Olympics|1960 Olympic Games]], and held several sprint records during the late 1950s.<ref name=jimmurr>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7qctAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aXIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1207%2C5994099 |newspaper=Schenectady Gazette |location=(New York) |last=Murray |first=Jim |author-link=Jim Murray (sportswriter) |agency=(Los Angeles Times)|title=A gold medal to see  |date=March 21, 1979 |page=31 }}</ref><ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417093936/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/si/dave-sime-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Dave Sime |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/si/dave-sime-1.html}}</ref><ref name=siaug2001>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/2001/08/20/309199/dave-sime-fastest-human-july-2-1956 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Kimmey |first=Will |title=Dave Sime, fastest human (July 2, 1956) |date=August 20, 2001 |page=20}}</ref><ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/sports/dave-sime-once-the-worlds-fastest-sprinter-dies-at-79.html?_r=0 |newspaper=New York Times |last=Litsky |first=Frank |agency=(obituary) |title=Dave Sime dies at 79; world's fastest sprinter, but far from its luckiest |date=January 15, 2016 |access-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref><ref name=mhdsobt>{{cite news |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/college/state-college-sports/article54824395.html|newspaper=Miami Herald|last=Kaufman |first=Michelle|title=David Sime, Olympian and doctor, dies at 79 |date=January 14, 2016 |access-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref>
==Early life==
Sime was born on July 25, 1936, in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], the son of Evelyn and Charles Sime,<ref name=mhobitlegy>{{cite news |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/herald/obituary.aspx?pid=177300742 |newspaper=Miami Herald |agency=(obituary) |title=Dr. David William Sime (1936-2016) |date=January 15, 2016 |access-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref> neither of whom graduated from high school.<ref name=intrig/> He grew up in [[Fair Lawn, New Jersey|Fair Lawn]] and played [[High school football|football]] and [[baseball]] at [[Fair Lawn High School]], but did not run track. He was a charter member of the Fair Lawn High School Athletics Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news |last=Roberts |first=Jeff |url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/intriguing-people-dave-sime-1.320652?page=all|title=Intriguing People: Dave Sime |newspaper=The Record |location=(Bergen County, New Jersey)|date=April 25, 2010|access-date=June 25, 2013}} "This was the moment that changed everything for the Paterson-born, Fair Lawn-bred Sime."</ref><ref name=intrig>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PgxgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HukFAAAAIBAJ&dq=dave%20sime%20fair%20lawn&pg=4104%2C2259165|title=Sime Has Great Day, Breaks World Record|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=[[The Miami News]]|date=May 6, 1956|access-date=August 31, 2011|archive-date=November 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111192843/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PgxgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HukFAAAAIBAJ&dq=dave%20sime%20fair%20lawn&pg=4104%2C2259165|url-status=dead}}"The 190-pound Fair Lawn, N.J., sophomore, a hot prospect for the U.S. Olympic team, won the 100-yard dash in 9.4, his sixth such performance this year."</ref>
Sime applied to the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]], as his dream was to become a pilot, but discovered he was [[Color blindness|color blind]] and accepted a [[Duke Blue Devils baseball|baseball]] [[Athletic scholarship|scholarship]] to [[Duke Blue Devils baseball|Duke University]] in [[North Carolina]].<ref name="Newsweek">{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/dave-sime-olympian-physician-and-grandfather-heisman-candidate-396671|title=Dave Sime: Olympian, Physician, and Grandfather to a Heisman Candidate|newspaper=[[Newsweek]]|date=November 20, 2015|author=John Walters}}</ref>
==Duke University==
Sime was a member of Duke's [[Duke Blue Devils baseball|baseball]] and [[track and field]] teams, and played [[Duke Blue Devils football|football]] for a season in 1958 while a first-year [[Duke University School of Medicine|medical school]] student.<ref name=joindkfb/><ref name=intrig/> His beginnings in track were accidental: his 100-yard dash on an unmowed grass surface in baseball shoes was a rapid 9.8 seconds, and the coaches soon asked him to join the track team. Opting not to play freshman football, he had gone out for fall track to stay in shape for baseball.<ref name=kaeotrk>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oskhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IJ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5979%2C4089550 |newspaper=Fort Scott Tribune |location=(Kansas)|agency=NEA |last=Padwe |first=Sandy |title=Dr. Sime is keeping an eye on track |date=November 23, 1966 |page=10 }}</ref> Sime hit over .400 as a freshman and had the intention continuing in baseball for coach Ace Parker, but his success during winter track changed that. Parker was a former multi-sport athlete and recognized the exceptional speed and Olympic potential; Sime focused on track in 1956, then split time between both sports in 1957.<ref name=dbdtymn>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Dlw0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=yIoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6817%2C1123938 |newspaper=Sarasota Journal |location=(Florida) |agency=Associated Press |title=Dave Sime leads double duty men |date=May 10, 1957 |page=16}}</ref><ref name=eyehungr>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=31VgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=snENAAAAIBAJ&pg=1570%2C670815 |newspaper=Wilmington Morning Star|location=(North Carolina)|agency=Associated Press |title=Scouts eye Sime hungrily|date=June 5, 1957|page=9}}</ref><ref name=calsndn>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=71VgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=snENAAAAIBAJ&pg=4555%2C3829596 |newspaper=Wilmington Morning Star |location=(North Carolina)|agency=Associated Press|title=College baseball all-stars named |date=June 21, 1957 |page=12}}</ref>
Sime achieved his greatest collegiate victory as a 19-year-old sophomore at the [[Drake Relays]] in April 1956, where he was named the meet's outstanding performer after setting a meet record in the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds;<ref name=ssmshmt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sGdgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CnINAAAAIBAJ&pg=1059%2C5870203 |newspaper=Sunday Star-News |location=(Wilmington, North Carolina) |agency=Associated Press |title=Sime smashes meet record |date=April 29, 1956 |page=2c }}</ref> he handed [[Bobby Morrow]] of [[Abilene Christian Wildcats|Abilene Christian]] his first loss in over thirty races in the 100, and was inducted into the Drake Relays Athlete Hall of Fame in 1959.<ref>DrakeRelays</ref> Sime was named the [[ACC Athlete of the Year]] in 1956 for his accomplishments in track and baseball.  Prior to the [[United States Olympic Trials (track and field)|Olympic trials]], he and Morrow appeared on the cover of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' in 1956.<ref name="Newsweek" /><ref name=sijly56>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1956/07/02/582212/and-now-the-biggest-battle-of-all |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Terrell |first=Roy |title=And now the biggest battle of all |date=July 2, 1956 |page=6}}</ref>
Sime was selected by the [[1959 Detroit Lions season|Detroit Lions]] in the 29th round (341st overall) of the [[1959 NFL draft]], but he opted not to play football professionally and continued at medical school.
In 2010, Duke named him their most outstanding athlete of the 20th century.<ref name="Newsweek" /><ref name="Chronicle">{{cite news|url=http://www.dukechronicle.com/blog/blue-zone/2011/02/ballad-dave-sime|title=The Ballad of Dave Sime|newspaper=Duke Chronicle|author=Bill Hensley|date=February 18, 2011|access-date=November 24, 2015|archive-date=November 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124191513/http://www.dukechronicle.com/blog/blue-zone/2011/02/ballad-dave-sime|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Olympics==
[[File:Men 100m final 1960 Olympics.jpg|thumb|400px|[[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 m final]] photo finish at the [[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics|1960 Olympics]];<br>Sime is at the far right in Lane 1]]
Sime was unable to make the [[Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics|1956 Olympics]] in [[Melbourne]] at age twenty due to a leg injury in his first attempt to ride a horse.<ref name="Newsweek" /><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1956/07/02/582213/the-sime-affair |magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=The Sime affair |date=July 2, 1956 |page=9}}</ref> Four years later (and midway through medical school), he competed in [[1960 Summer Olympics|Rome]] and won a silver medal in the [[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 meters]], edged out by [[Armin Hary]] of [[United Team of Germany at the 1960 Summer Olympics|Germany]] in a [[photo finish]].<ref name=nytobit/>
Sime anchored the U.S. to an apparent victory in the [[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]], posting a world record time of 39.4 seconds. The team was disqualified because at the first exchange from Budd to Norton, Norton started too early and the exchange happened outside the changeover box.<ref name=nytobit/><ref name=cbsudsq>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pa5YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UfcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5724%2C4781937 |newspaper=Bend Bulletin |location=(Oregon) |agency=UPI |title=Crowd boos when U.S. relay team disqualified |date=September 8, 1960 |page=1 }}</ref> During his career, he held world records at 100 yards, 220 yards, and the [[low hurdles|220 yd low hurdles]].
During the Rome Olympics, Sime worked with the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] trying to entice Soviet long-jumper [[Igor Ter-Ovanesyan]] to defect; the attempt failed.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bull|first=Andy|date=May 17, 2020|title=Olympic espionage: US sprinter Dave Sime, the CIA and the 1960 Games|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/may/17/olympics-dave-sime-cia-1960-rome-ukrainians-defect-soviet-union|access-date=May 17, 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Ophthalmology==
Sime never played sports professionally. He graduated in the top 10% of his class at the [[Duke University School of Medicine]]. He then practiced medicine as an [[Ophthalmology|ophthalmologist]] in [[Florida]], where he was a pioneer in [[intraocular lens]] implants.<ref name="Newsweek" /><ref name="Chronicle" />
==Personal life==
Sime's eldest child, Sherrie, went to the [[University of Virginia]], where she was the school's top-ranked [[singles tennis]] player. His son Scott was a state [[wrestling]] champion and all-state football player at [[Coral Gables Senior High School]] before going on to his father's alma mater at Duke, where he was a starting [[Fullback (gridiron football)|fullback]].<ref name=siaug2001/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_29072213/broncos-ed-mccaffrey-wife-lisa-both-come-from-long-line-athletes|title=Broncos' Ed McCaffrey, wife, Lisa, both come from long line of athletes|newspaper=[[The Denver Post]]|date=November 28, 1999|author=Patrick Saunders}}</ref>
Sime's youngest child, Lisa, attended [[Stanford University]], where she was a standout [[Stanford Cardinal women's soccer|soccer]] player. There she met her future husband, [[Ed McCaffrey]], a [[Stanford Cardinal football|Cardinal]] wide receiver who went on to win three [[Super Bowl]]s and a [[1999 Pro Bowl|Pro Bowl]] during a 13-year [[National Football League|NFL]] career.<ref name=siaug2001/><ref name="Newsweek" /> Three of their first four sons (his grandsons): [[Max McCaffrey|Max]], [[Christian McCaffrey|Christian]], and [[Luke McCaffrey]], are an [[American football]] coach and a former [[National Football League|NFL]] [[wide receiver]], an NFL [[running back]], and an NFL [[wide receiver]], respectively.
After a lengthy battle with cancer, Sime died at age 79 in 2016.<ref name=mhdsobt/>
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* Maraniss, David (2008). ''Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World''. New York, Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|1-4165-3407-5}}.
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{USATF Hall of Fame|id=155}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|org_archive=20160920225426}}
* [http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210765725 Appreciating Duke Legend Dave Sime] at Duke University Athletics
{{ACC Male Athlete of the Year}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1960 Summer Olympics}}
{{Lions1959DraftPicks}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sime, Dave}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:Fair Lawn High School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Fair Lawn, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Paterson, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from New Jersey]]
[[Category:American male sprinters]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Duke University alumni]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Duke University School of Medicine alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]