LeRoy Braxton Cochran (January 6, 1919 – September 26, 1981)[3][1] was an American sprinter and hurdler, winner of two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Born in Richton, Mississippi, as the ninth of ten children to a sportive family. Cochran played football and was a one-man track team in the high school. Cochran wanted to go to Tulane University with a football scholarship, but was persuaded by his older brother Commodore, who won a gold medal at 1924 Summer Olympics in 4×400 m relay, to go to Indiana University Bloomington with a track scholarship. Commodore later became also his coach.
in pursuit of graduate degrees in physiology after the war.
Cochran took up athletics again at USC and in 1942 set world indoor records in the 400 m and 440 yd and a world outdoor record in the 440 yd. He won his second AAU title in 400 m hurdles in 1948, thus qualifying to the Olympics. In the Olympic final
Ceylon went off at a terrific pace, but by half distance Cochran was ahead. He won by a huge margin, beating second-placed White by 0.7 seconds. Cochran won his second gold medal as he ran the third leg of the 4×400 m relay for the winning USA team.[1]