Sports
Rex Cawley
1940–2022
· track and field athlete, 400-meter hurdler
Highland Park-born hurdler who set a world record and won Olympic gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
- Born
Highland Park, Michigan- Died
Orange, California
aged 81- Birth name
- Warren Jay Cawley
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Cawley was born in Highland Park, an enclave city within Detroit, and grew up in the suburb of Farmington, where he attended Farmington High School and still holds the school's 100-yard-dash record, set in 1959. He went on to USC, where he won an NCAA title in the 440-yard hurdles, then set a world record of 49.1 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1964 Olympic Trials. At the Tokyo Olympics that followed, he won gold by half a second over Britain's John Cooper, the pinnacle of a career rooted in metro Detroit's high school track scene.
Highlights
- Born in Highland Park, Michigan; raised in Farmington and attended Farmington High School
- Set a world record in the 400 m hurdles at the 1964 Olympic Trials
- Won Olympic gold in the 400 m hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Games
- Still holds the Farmington High School 100-yard-dash record, set in 1959
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1950s
Farmington High School
Status being checked
Where Cawley set a school 100-yard-dash record in 1959 that still stands.