Harold Osborn - 1928 Olympics and After

1928 Olympics and After

Osborn competed in the Olympics again in 1928. In the high jump, four competitors tied for second place. In the runoff jumps, Osborn was not able to jump high enough to win the bronze medal and had to settle for a participant medal. The initial tying jumps for second place were 6' 3- ½", just an inch behind gold medalist, Bob King, who jumped 6' 4½". No one was able to match or better Osborn's 1924 jump.

After the 1928 games Osborn returned home, married Margaret Bordner, and continued to teach and coach at Champaign High School until 1933, when he returned to school. He received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1937. He credited a share of success as an athlete to osteopathy, especially after a Paris practitioner helped him with a pulled muscle at the 1924 games. In 1937, the Osborns, by then the parents of two daughters, returned to Champaign, Illinois, where he practiced osteopathic medicine, continued to compete in athletics, and assisted the University of Illinois track coach in the 1940s.

Even with his busy life of coaching, practicing osteopathic medicine, and raising a family, Osborn never lost interest in staying physically fit, active, and healthy. At the age of 40, he could jump 6'3". At the age of 50, he could clear his own body height of 5' 10½". In his later years he also competed in the field of archery.

Two more daughters were born in Champaign, where Harold and Margaret Osborn continued to reside until his death on April 5, 1975.