Ken Doherty (track) - Early Years

Early Years

Born of Canadian parents who crossed the Detroit River to find work in Detroit, Michigan, Doherty recalled learning about track and field at age six when the local pole vault champion lived across the street: "I took my mother's clothes pole and tried to clear a string stretched across two fence posts." Doherty attended Detroit's Western High School where he did not earn a letter. He later recalled being small for his age in high school and joked that, at the end of high school, "they gave me a letter for long and faithful service!"