Power of Caring
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Olympic long jumper Gourdine dead at 69

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Posted: Friday November 20, 1998 04:34 PM

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- Meredith Gourdine, who won the long jump silver medal at the 1952 Olympics, died Friday following a series of strokes. He was 69.

Gourdine jumped 24 feet, 8 inches at the Helsinki Games and finished second to fellow American Jerome Biffle, an army private who came out of two-year retirement to win in 24-10.

Gourdine's ex-wife, June Hubbard of Laurel, Maryland., said he had been suffering from diabetes, and had lost his vision and one leg.

He was undergoing twice-weekly dialysis treatments at the time of his death, Hubbard said.

"That man, he never gave up no matter what. When he was losing his eyesight, when he lost the feeling in his hands," she said. "He just kept on and on despite his disabilities."

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