Career
Born in Guisborough, in present-day Redcar and Cleveland, England, William Applegarth was one of the best European sprinters during the World War I.
The United States was later disqualified for a fault in passing the baton. The same mistake was made in the final by world record holder and main favourite German team Shortly after the Olympics, Applegarth repeated the Donald Lippincott"s world record in 100 m of 10.6 and set a new world record of 21.2 in 200 m in the 1914 American Automobile Association meeting.
His 200 m record was not broken until 1928.
In November 1914, Applegarth turned professional and in 1922 emigrated to America, where became track and soccer coach at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. He also played for Brooklyn in the American Soccer League.
In 1925 he retired from sport and began working as a welder at the General Electric Company, where he stayed until 1955. He died at age 68, in the same year that his British 100 yd (91 m) record of 9.8 s was finally broken.
