Who Is Glenn Cunningham's Greatest Accomplishments

Olympic athlete Glenn Cunningham had to overcome a lot to accomplish his goals. As his father would often tell him, “A Cunningham never quits. Pain, hard work, tough times, little money, we can stand anything (Cunningham 55).” Once told he would never walk again due to his injuries from a fire, Glenn Cunningham worked through the pain to reach his goals. Burns are very harmful and affect many people. Over 265,000 people from all over the world are killed each year due to burns (WHO). In the United States 1.1 million people are hospitalized with burns annually (Gale). Burns can cause many physical problems, such as soreness and weakness around the burn area. After the burn is healed, it turns black and leaves thick scars, making it hard to move that part of the body (Aaseng 12).

Tragedies can

He started running competitively when he saw a medal and decided he wanted to win it. Glenn was much smaller than the other boys in the race, but he beat them all and won first place. Soon after winning the race the high school track coach asked the young winner to join the team (Aaseng 13). By the time Glenn was a junior in high school, he had competed in many races and decided to go to nationals in Chicago, Illinois. He won with a time of 4:24, setting a record for the fastest high school mile. After high school, Glenn decided to go to college at The University of Kansas and became known as the fastest miler in Kansas (Lobb 46). Finally, Glenn achieved his goal and made it to the Olympics, but Glenn hoping to win first came in fourth. After the Olympics, he did not give up and won five national championships. After deciding to try to beat the mile world record, Glenn did it clocking in at 4:06. He made it to the Olympics again in 1936 and won the silver medal. Soon after, Glenn broke the world record again with a time of 4:04. In 1940 the Kansas Iron Man decided to quit running (Aaseng