General · EdgepediaOctober 21, 20264 min read

Jerry Bright

Jerry Bright (Chase "Jerry" Bright; born 1947) is an American former sprinter who won a silver medal in the 200 meters at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg and was a three-time All-American for the Arizona State Sun Devils track and field team.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Born	1947, USA; 178 cm / 75 kg as listed in the 1967 season records¹
Signature result	200 m silver, 1967 Pan American Games, Winnipeg, 20.9 behind John Carlos's 20.5³
1967 Pan Am 100 m	Fourth in the final in 10.40, behind Harry Jerome and Willie Turner (both 10.27) and Hermes Ramírez (10.36)¹
NCAA	Third in the 200 m at the 1967 NCAA University Division outdoor championships, 20.56 (officially 20.5y)⁴
ASU record	200 m school record of 20.29, set in 1968⁵
Conference titles	Four-time Western Athletic Conference champion: 100 y in 1967 (9.4) and 220 y in 1967, 1968, and 1969⁶
Hall of Fame	Arizona State Sports Hall of Fame, 1993 class²

High school career in Oakland

Bright competed for Castlemont High School in Oakland, California. At the 1965 CIF State Track and Field Championships he placed fourth in the 100-yard dash in 9.6, and his 21.34c in the 200 meters at the state prelims that June still stood among the all-time California state meet marks decades later.⁷^•⁸ At the 1965 West Coast Relays he ran an anchor leg of 20.7 on Castlemont's winning 880-yard relay team, whose 1:26.8 was reported as the fastest in California that year.⁹ Oakland Athletic League records list his 21.1 (yards) 1965 mark, converted to 20.98, as the Castlemont school record.¹⁰

Arizona State

At Arizona State University, Bright competed in the short sprints from 1967 to 1969. In 1967 Bright earned All-American honors in both the 100-yard and 200-yard dashes, and in 1968 he received the same recognition in the 100-yard dash; at each of his three Western Athletic Conference championship meets he took gold in the 220-yard dash, and in 1967 he also claimed the 100-yard conference title.²^•⁶ The WAC record book lists his winning marks as 21.60 (1967), 22.40 (1968), and 21.20 (1969) in the 220 yards, and 9.4 in the 1967 100 yards.⁶

At the 1967 NCAA University Division outdoor championships in Provo, he finished third in the 200 meters in 20.56 (officially 20.5y), behind Tommie Smith's 20.14 and Lennox Miller's 20.35.⁴ His 20.29 in the 200 meters, set in 1968, stood at the top of Arizona State's all-time outdoor list decades later, ahead of Henry Carr's 20.33 and Dwayne Evans's 20.34.⁵ He was inducted into the Arizona State Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.²

1967 season and Pan American Games

1967 was Bright's peak season. Track & Field News ranked him fifth among American 100-meter runners that year.¹¹ At the Modesto Relays on 27 May 1967 he finished sixth in a deep 100 m race won by Jim Hines and Willie Turner at 10.0, with Bright timed at 10.1 (a derived 10.31).¹² At the national AAU championships in Bakersfield he was fourth in the 220-yard dash in 20.8, behind Tommie Smith, Jim Hines, and John Carlos.¹³

At the Pan American Games in Winnipeg he reached two individual finals. In the 100 meters he won his heat and semi-final and placed fourth in the final in 10.40.³^•¹ In the 200 meters he won his heat in 21.25 and his semi-final in 20.76, then took silver in the final in 20.9 behind John Carlos's 20.5, with Pablo Montes of Cuba third in 21.0.³^•¹⁴

Later career

The US Olympic Trials index lists him as Chase Jerry Bright, with entries in 1968 and again from 1968 through 1976, and bests of 10.1 and 10.35 for 1967 and 20.29A for 1968.¹⁵ He appeared in the finals of the national AAU 200 meters in 1968 (fifth, 20.7) and 1969 (sixth, 21.0).¹⁶

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Athletics, gymnastics, and strength sports › Athletes of track and field and road running › Sprinters and hurdlers › Short sprinters › American sprinters › Sprinters of the 1950s and 1960s

Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026

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