| Leighton Dye | |
| Sport: | Athletics |
| Event: | 110 metres hurdles |
| Club: | Los Angeles Athletics Team |
| Birth Date: | 30 October 1901 |
| Birth Place: | St. Louis, US |
| Death Place: | Naples, US |
| Weight: | 82kg (181lb) |
| Pb: | 110 m hurdles: 14.6 (1928) |
Leighton William Charles Dye (October 30, 1901 – October 25, 1977)[1] was an American hurdler. He placed fourth in the 110 m hurdles at the 1928 Summer Olympics and was United States champion in 1926.
Dye was born in St. Louis, Missouri on October 30, 1901.[1] Representing coach Dean Cromwell's USC Trojans, Dye won the IC4A 120 yd (109.7 m) hurdles title as a junior in 1925, running 14.8;[2] [3] USC won that year's IC4A team title.[4] Later that year he placed third at the national championships, behind Olympic finalist George Guthrie and NCAA champion Hugo Leistner.[5] In 1926 Dye repeated as IC4A champion, this time in 14.7,[2] [6] and placed second to Guthrie at the NCAA championships;[7] the Trojans again won the IC4A team title, and would have also won the NCAA title if one had been awarded that year.[6] [8] Dye then won at the national championships in 14.6, equalling both his personal best and Guthrie's meeting record from the previous year.[5] [9] [10]
Dye again ran 14.6, this time for the metric 110 m hurdles, at the 1928 Southwestern Olympic Tryouts, qualifying for the final Olympic Trials;[11] the time broke Earl Thomson's world record for the metric distance of 14.8,[11] although it was still inferior to Thomson's 14.4 for the imperial hurdles and was never ratified as a world record.[1] [12] At the final Trials in Cambridge Dye placed third behind Steve Anderson and John Collier, qualifying for the Olympics.[12]
At the Olympics in Amsterdam Dye won his heat in 15.0 and then his semi-final in 14.8, a time that equalled both the Olympic record and Thomson's still-official metric world record; however, South Africa's George Weightman-Smith ran 14.6 in a subsequent semi-final.[1] In the final Dye placed fourth behind Sid Atkinson, Anderson and Collier, but defeated Weightman-Smith.[1]
Dye later became a sales executive for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.[13] He died in Naples, Florida on October 25, 1977.[1]