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Malcolm Spence

Personal information
Birth name	Malcolm A. E. Spence
Born	2 January 1936 Kingston, Jamaica
Died	30 October 2017(2017-10-30) (aged 81) Boca Raton, Florida
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  British West Indies (BWI) Olympic Games 1960 Rome 4x400 metres relay Pan American Games 1959 Chicago 4×400 m 1959 Chicago 400 m Representing  Jamaica Commonwealth Games 1962 Perth 4x440 yards 1958 Cardiff 4x440 yards Central American and Caribbean Games 1962 Kingston 4×400 m 1962 Kingston 400 metres

Malcolm A. E. "Mal" Spence (2 January 1936 – 30 October 2017) was a Jamaican athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres. His twin brother Melville also competed in track and field.

Spence competed for the British West Indies in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, where he won the bronze medal in the men's 4x400 metres relay with his teammates James Wedderburn, Keith Gardner and George Kerr. Curiously, there were two people named Malcolm Spence running the 400 meters distance at both the 1956 and the 1960 Olympics, both getting a bronze medal in 1960. Malcolm Spence from South Africa took the bronze medal in the Open race, while the South African relay team finished in fourth, one second behind Mal Spence's British West Indian relay team. Both twins returned to run the 4x400 relay in 1964 as members of the first independent Jamaican team.

Living in Florida, he served as a torchbearer for the 1996 Olympics in nearby Atlanta.

Both Mal and his twin brother were recruited to run for Arizona State University during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s, among the first international athletes to come to the US for athletics.

He is the author of The Lives and Times of Mal and Mel: Three Times Jamaican Olympians published in 2011.

References

1. "Boca Raton Olympian Malcolm Spence dies at 81". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
2. "Sun Devils Remember Malcolm Spence II". thesundevils.com. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
3. Spence, Malcolm (July 2011). The Lives and Times of Mal and Mel: Three Times Jamaican Olympians. ISBN 9781462013968.

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mal Spence". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
• "Obituary of Olympian Malcolm 'Mal' Spence". Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association. 11 July 2017.

• 1936 births
• 2017 deaths
• Jamaican male sprinters
• Olympic bronze medalists for the British West Indies
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1963 Pan American Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
• Olympic athletes for Jamaica
• Olympic athletes for the British West Indies
• Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
• Pan American Games gold medalists for the British West Indies
• Pan American Games bronze medalists for the British West Indies
• Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
• Jamaican twins
• Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
• Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
• Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Jamaica
• Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Jamaica
• Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Jamaica
• Competitors at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games
• Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica
• Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics
• Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games
• Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
• Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
• Athletes from Kingston, Jamaica