Thomas Churchill

Thomas Churchill Sr. (1908–1963) was an American star athlete in the 1920s who participated in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands as a decathlete, and was a multi-sport standout for the University of Oklahoma between 1927–28 and 1929–30. Early life Churchill was born in Blair, Oklahoma. He attended Central High School in Oklahoma City where he has a successful sports career. Churchill participated on the football, track and field, baseball, basketball and swimming teams and was chosen as a scholastic All-American. He also earned all-state honors in both football and basketball, and he was considered the best all-around high school athlete in the state of Oklahoma. Amateur sports career Early OU days Churchill enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 1926, but due to collegiate athlete athletics rules at the time, freshmen were not allowed to play for their schools' varsity teams. He decided to box for his first year and won titles in both light-heavyweight and heavyweight classifications. When he became eligible to play for the school's sports teams as a sophomore in 1927–28, Churchill played for the football and basketball teams and was selected to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team in basketball. That season, the basketball team finished 18–0 and were MVC champions. Even though he was a star athlete in multiple sports, basketball was considered his best sport.