John DiCarlo may have just turned 88-years-old, but he certainly doesn’t look it. His eyes are bright, his smile is genuine and his laugh contagious.

You can tell he’s an athlete simply by the manner in which he carries himself. DiCarlo walks tall and moves gracefully. He looks you in the eye when he shakes your hand.

Most of all, though, he just exudes an athletic aura. And that’s no surprise because as a young man John DiCarlo was one of the fastest men in the United States...maybe even in the world.

He won gold medals before capacity crowds in Madison Square Garden, dominated the Penn Relays and set the standard for an entire generation of runners. Heck, at one time he even counted legendary Olympic hero Jesse Owens among his friends.

These days, John is content to sit back and reflect on a full life. In addition to his accomplishments on the track, he’s a war veteran, husband, father and grandfather. He made a solid living in the toy industry, once even selling half a million Monopoly games in one fell swoop.

“Now that I’m 88, I look back and think, ‘Gee, I wasn’t too bad,’” John said of his track & field days during a recent visit to the TWI Sports desk. “God’s given everyone a mind and body and it’s up to us to develop them to the best of our ability.”

In Retrospect
John DiCarlo says he suffered from an inferiority complex as a child growing up in Ardmore, PA, a town just west of Philadelphia.

In grammar school, he discovered he could run much faster than most of his friends. By the time junior high rolled around, he’d decided to focus his energies on the track. And, once the coaches at Lower Merion High got a look at him, his athletic destiny was pretty much set.

DiCarlo excelled in sprints, relays, hurdles and the broad jump. He captained his high school team as a junior, but then decided to transfer to West Catholic in Philly. John’s motivation was to attend a larger school in hopes of securing an athletic scholarship for college.

“There were 3,000 boys at West Catholic,” he said. “It was quite an adjustment. But, I just focused on running and the rest took care of itself.”

DiCarlo’s one year at West Catholic proved to be everything he hoped it would be. John did indeed secure a full ride to Villanova University after starring in both relays and sprints. In fact, as a member of the mile relay team, he and his ‘mates just missed setting a world record, clocking in at 3:21.9.

“You know, that’s still a pretty good time by today’s standards,” John said. “And we were training and running on a cinder track.”

At Villanova, DiCarlo’s legacy continued to grow. Several of his best performances came in the Big Apple under the bright lights at Madison Square Garden. There, John anchored a victorious mile relay team in the Millrose Games.

After a spectacular, war-interrupted collegiate career, John was honored with induction into the Villanova athletics’ Hall of Fame. At one time, DiCarlo was a genuine world-class track & field star in events ranging from the 50-yard dash to the broad jump.

John set an all-time Villanova record for points in a dual meet with 21 against Franklin & Marshall.

He was such a respected young man that when Jim “Jumbo” Elliott entered the service, DiCarlo was named coach in his stead...thus earning him the epithet “Captain, Coach & Anchor” in the Philly papers.

John and his wife Georgia were married in 1945 while he was still in the service. They enjoyed 37 “wonderful years” together before she passed away in 1982. John is the proud father of six children, three of whom attended Division One colleges on athletic scholarships.