Mal Whitfield (136), en roote to winning the gold medal in the 800-meter final of the 1948 Olympic Games. Immediately behind him is Arthur Wint of Jamaica, who won the silver medal.

Mal Whitfield, or "Marvelous Mal" as he was called, held his share of world records but he was an athlete who ran to win, rather than for time. Competitive at any distance from the 220 to the mile, ...

Whitfield, who earned the moniker “Marvelous Mal,” went on to become the premier 800-meter runner of his era, winning gold medals in the event at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics.

This is the 16th piece of a recurring series where the Tribune explores little known historical gems within Matagorda County.

Mal Whitfield. Mal Whitfield competes in the 1948 London Olympics (Wikimedia Commons) Whitfield served as a tail gunner with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) --Malvin Greston Whitfield, a Tuskegee airman and three-time Olympic gold medalist who went by the moniker Marvelous Mal, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on ...

Fredricka Whitfield on the story of “Marvelous Mal” Whitfield, an Olympic medalist, Tuskegee airman and longtime U.S. diplomat.

A member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the elder Whitfield was still an Air Force sergeant when, in the 1948 London Olympics, he became the first U.S. serviceman on active duty to win gold medals—in ...