USC’s first “world’s fastest human,” Charles “Charley” Paddock ’23, earned the moniker “California Comet” for dominating the world of sprinting from 1919 to 1929. He set a total of 13 world and U.S. records — and his world record of 10.2 in the 100 meters, set in 1921, wasn’t equaled until 1932, and wasn’t broken until 1950. He competed in three Summer Olympics, taking home two gold medals and one silver from Antwerp in 1920 and a silver from Paris in 1924. (An aside: Paddock’s character was portrayed by actor Dennis Christopher in Chariots of Fire, the Oscar-winning 1981 film about the 1924 Olympic Games.)

Frank Wykoff ’33 inherited Paddock’s mantle in 1928, when he tied the world record in the 100-yard dash four times in a single afternoon during the Olympic trials. Wykoff set world records in three straight Olympic Games, running on gold medal-winning 4×100-meter relay teams in 1928, 1932 and 1936. His world record for the 100-yard dash stood until 1948, when it was broken by another USC sprinting star.

Sprinter Mel Patton ’49, MS ’51, nicknamed “Pell Mel,” became the third of USC’s “world’s fastest humans” when he broke Frank Wykoff’s longstanding record in the 100-yard dash in 1948 — a record that stood until 1962. Patton won two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.