View source for James Rector

{{Short description|American athlete}}
{{about|the athlete|the American jurist|James Ward Rector|the "Bloody Thursday" victim|James Rector (student)}}
{{MedalTableTop|JamesRector.jpg|200px | medals =
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|athletics]]}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1908 Summer Olympics|1908 London]] | [[Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 metres]]}}
}}

'''John "James" Alcorn Rector''' (June 22, 1884 – March 10, 1949) was an American athlete. He was the first Arkansas-born athlete to compete in the [[Olympic Games]]. While competing he was a [[University of Virginia]] student and went there to train with [[Henry Lannigan|Pop Lannigan]].<ref name="NewsLeader1930">''[[The News Leader]]'', [[Staunton, Virginia]], December 26, 1930.</ref>

James Rector was born in [[Hot Springs, Arkansas]]. He was the grandson of Arkansas [[US Civil War|Civil War]] governor [[Henry Massey Rector]] and Mississippi [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] governor [[James Alcorn]].

He won the [[silver medal]] in the 100 metres at the [[1908 Summer Olympics]], tying the Olympic record for the race (10.8 seconds at the time) during both the qualifying heats and the semifinals. He lost to [[Reggie Walker (sprinter)|Reggie Walker]] in the final, running the race in 10.9 seconds as Walker hit the 10.8 mark for his second time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78932 |title=James Rector |work=Olympedia |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref>

Rector was not only a track star at Virginia but also a star of the [[Virginia Cavaliers baseball|Virginia baseball]] and football teams.<ref name="NewsLeader1930" /> Rector was a prominent [[St. Louis, Missouri]] [[lawyer]] for more than thirty years before retiring in Hot Springs.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | last = Cook | first = Theodore Andrea | year = 1908 | title = The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report | publisher = British Olympic Association | location = London}}
* {{cite web | last = De Wael | first = Herman | year = 2001 | url = http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1908.html | title = Athletics 1908 | work = Herman's Full Olympians | accessdate = 20 July 2006 | archive-date = 27 September 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060927093153/http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1908.html | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite web | last = Wudarski | first = Pawel | year = 1999 | url = http://olympic.w.interia.pl/ | title = Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich | accessdate = 20 July 2006 | language = pl | archive-date = 14 October 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081014230806/http://olympic.w.interia.pl/ | url-status = dead }}

==External links==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rector, James}}
[[Category:1884 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:American male sprinters]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Arkansas]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Hot Springs, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]