James Wendell

Who was James Wendell?

James Isaac Wendell was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 110 metre hurdles.

He competed for the United States in the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, Sweden in the 110 metre hurdles where he won the silver medal, part of an American sweep of that event.

After his Olympic career, Wendell has a successful career in education. He was a master of English and assistant track coach at The Hill School, an elite boarding school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where he was subsequently named headmaster. A teammate of his on the 1912 Olympic Team, General George S. Patton, later sent his son to The Hill while Wendell was headmaster. During Wendell's tenure as headmaster Hill graduate William Franklin Porter II, class of 1944, won a gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

In 2008, Wendell was named to Wesleyan University's Athletic Hall of Fame. He graduated from the school in 1913, having broken several track and field records in his time at the school.