Kelly Rankin
Born: Clinton, Okla.

Graduated: Clay Center H.S., 1958 / University of Kansas, 1962

A simple request to be the starter of a junior high track and field meet in Kansas eventually led Kelly
Rankin to two Olympic Games.

“A close friend of mine who was the track coach at a junior high in north Topeka called one day and
said, ‘You ran at KU, how would you like to start a track meet?’ I said, ‘Well, sure.’ I didn’t know what
to do. I thought you just shoot the gun, and they run,” Rankin said. “Little did I know the makings of it.
But I did it. I enjoyed it and continued to do it and worked up the ladder.”

Saying that Rankin worked his way up the ladder is quite an understatement. He served as the head
track and field starter for two Olympic Games (1984 and 1996), three U.S. Olympic Trials (1976, 1980
and 1996), two NCAA Indoor Championships, eight NCAA Outdoor Championships, 37 NAIA Indoor
Championships and 34 NAIA Outdoor Championships.

In 1996, he became the first American to be selected as the head starter for two Olympic Games.
While Rankin says he has many wonderful experiences, he says being a starter for the 1996 Olympic
Men’s 400 meters won by Michael Johnson ranks at the top. He says the stadium, with every seat
taken, was abuzz as the runner’s entered the starting block. And with Rankin’s voice, the place became
so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“I’m wearing a hearing aid because I shot those shells for so many years,” Rankin said. “But it was a
way to give back to a sport that gave to me.”

Rankin was born March 9, 1940 in Clinton, Okla. He attended Clay Center High School and graduated
in 1958. He then attended the University of Kansas, competing in track and baseball. As a sprinter for
the KU track and field team, he competed under Kansas Sports Hall of Fame coach Bill Easton and was
teammates with Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inductees Billy Mills and Bill Dotson.

The initial junior high meet led Rankin to begin working as a starter at high school events. Then after
becoming a physical education teacher at Emporia State, he began serving as a starter for NAIA
competitions.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Rankin was the head starter for Michael Johnson’s historic gold-medal performance in the 400 meters.

Rankin also officiated gymnastics, participating in five Big Eight Championships from 1968 to 1972.
He is in the NAIA Hall of Fame, the Emporia State Physical Education Hall of Fame, the USA Track and Field Officials Hall of Fame and the Clay Center High School Hall of Fame.