Margaret Johnson-Bailes - Track and Field

Margaret Johnson Bailes remains one of Oregon’s greatest prep sprinters and won a Gold Medal in the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics as a member of the 4x100 relay team while still in high school. And then, she disappeared from the national and world scene.

Bailes grew up in Eugene and was discovered at age 9 after winning an all-comers meet while wearing a dress and dress shoes she had on because she originally planned to attend a movie with friends. Local coach Wendy Jerome, wife of coaching legend Harry Jerome, saw her run and began directing her talent. Because of her speed, she regularly ran against boys and then college men.  

Bailes attended Churchill High School and, as a junior in 1968, helped the Lancers finish second to Sheldon in the first OSAA state meet, which consisted of 11 events. She won the 100- and 200-yard finals and ran a leg on the winning 440-yard relay team.

That year, she also ran 11.1 in the 100 meters, equaling the world record, and 22.95 in the 200, which was an American record. She won the 200 and finished second in the 100 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but contracted pneumonia prior to the Olympics and finished only fifth in the 100 and seventh in the 200. She ran the second leg for the 4x100 relay team, which won and established a world record at 42.8 seconds.

Following the Games, she learned she was pregnant and became a parent along with husband Eddie Bailes. They moved from Eugene the following year, and she never ran in a meet again.

Despite her short career, her accomplishments were significant and she was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2009, the renovated track she practiced on near Churchill High School was named for her.