|
Reginald Leslie "Snowy" Baker (8 February 18842 December 1953) was an Australian athlete, sports promoter, and actor. Born in Surry Hills, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Baker excelled at a number of sports, winning New South Wales swimming and boxing championships while still a teenager. Playing rugby union for Eastern Suburbs, he played several games for New South Wales against Queensland, and in 1904 represented Australia in two Test matches against Great Britain.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Snowy Baker, Australia )〕 At the 1908 London Olympics, Baker represented Australasia in swimming and diving, as well as taking part in the middleweight boxing event, in which he won a silver medal. He also excelled in horsemanship, water polo, running, rowing and cricket.〔Mandle W. F. "(Baker, Reginald Leslie (Snowy) (1884–1953) )", Australian Dictionary of Biography 1979. Accessed 30 January 2015〕 However, "His stature as an athlete depends largely upon the enormous range rather than the outstanding excellence of his activities; it was as an entrepreneur-showman, publicist and businessman that he seems in retrospect to have been most important."〔 Baker retired from competition after being injured in a motor-vehicle accident, and became involved in boxing promotion, bringing a number of top fighters from North America and Europe to fight in Australia. During this time, he began to act in a number of silent film roles which showcased his horsemanship, including ''The Enemy Within'', ''The Man from Kangaroo'', and ''The Shadow of Lightning Ridge''. In 1920, Baker left Australia for the United States, where he became known as an entrepreneur and stunt coach. He died in 1953 in Los Angeles, California, from cerebrovascular disease.〔 == Athletics record == Baker played 26 sports during his lifetime and excelled at most of them: * At the age of 13 Baker was the New South Wales open swimming champion for 110 and 220 yards (100 and 200m). * At 16 he played in the Australian Rugby Union team against Great Britain. * At 17 he was middleweight boxing champion of New South Wales, and * At 18 took the middleweight and heavyweight boxing titles of Australia. Baker was also prominent at polo, water polo, cricket and diving, and proficient in surfing, fencing, hockey, rowing, yachting and equestrian events. He appeared at the 1908 London Olympics, representing Australasia in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, finishing fourth, and in the diving where he lost in the first round, coming seventh against the powerful Germans who dominated the sport at the time. He also took part in the Olympic boxing competition, where he lost the final match against Johnny Douglas, winning a silver medal. Supporters of Snowy Baker, later claimed that Douglas' father was the referee and sole judge, but Douglas Sr was there merely to present the medals, in his role as president of the ABA, and had no part in the actual judging.〔(Boxing Monthly )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Snowy Baker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|