Charles Jenkins Sr.
American athlete
Charles Lamont "Charlie" Jenkins (born January 7, 1934) is a former American athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Coached by Jumbo Elliott, Jenkins won in the 1955 National AAU title in 440 yd (402 m) but at the 1956 Olympics all eyes were on Jenkins' U.S. teammate, Lou Jones, who held the world record. Jones had won the U.S. Trials while Jenkins had placed a distant third. At Melbourne, Jenkins barely made it to the 400 m Olympic final, finishing third in both his first and second-round heats. In the final, however, a strong finish earned him the gold medal. A few days later he won a second gold medal when the U.S. took the 4 × 400 m relay.
Jenkins also competed indoors, winning the AAU 600 yd (549 m) title in 1955, 1957 and 1958. In 1956, he set a world indoor best for 500 yd (457 m). When Elliott died in 1981, Jenkins succeeded him as Villanova coach. One of his charges was his son, Chip, who placed third at the 1986 NCAA indoor championships.
“Charles Jenkins Sr.” enters the record as american athlete. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Charles, Jenkins and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Charles Jenkins Sr.” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Charles, Jenkins and American provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q920234. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934, 1956, 1955 and 1957.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Charles Jenkins Sr.”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Charles Jenkins Sr. primary sources, Charles Jenkins Sr. archive and Charles research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Charles Jenkins Sr.”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Charles Jenkins Sr.” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.