As a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, Woodruff placed first in the 1936 Olympic Trials and went on to win a gold medal in the 800-meter sprint in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Despite having been boxed in early in the race, he was able to break free from the pack after almost coming to a complete stop during the race and starting again, passing all for the victory. His performance is considered one of the most exciting in Olympic history.

At these Olympics, each gold medalist was given an oak tree. Woodruff planted his at his high school in Pennsylvania, where the tree still stands today. Crown Hill is working on getting a sampling of the tree to plant near Woodruff’s stone to replace an earlier sampling that died.

After the Olympics, he entered military service in 1941 as a second lieutenant and was discharged as a captain in 1945. He re-entered military service during the Korean War era, and was honorably discharged as a lieutenant colonel. He coached young athletes and officiated at local and Madison Garden track meets, worked as a teacher, a special investigator for the New York Department of Welfare, a recreation center director for the New York City Police Athletic League, and a parole officer.

Woodruff died on October 30, 2007 at the age of 92. He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery on Nov. 14, 2007 with his wife’s family on Lot 86, Section 46. A granite memorial bench was installed on his grave lot in August of 2008.

Watch Remembering John Woodruff.