Today in History: April 13 - Lonoke native, Olympic gold medalist Eddie Hamm born in 1906

(KAIT) - On April 13, 1906, Eddie Hamm was born in Lonoke.

Hamm was a state and world-class athlete in high school and college who competed in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam.

He set a world record in the long jump, becoming the first Arkansan to win a gold medal.

The Atlanta Journal called him “the South’s first world champion in any sports,” and he was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.

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