Kansas State University Athletics
K-State Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2006
- Class:
- 1923
When people think of sports superstars today, they think of those that excel in football, basketball or baseball. However, Ivan Riley was the superstar in the pioneer era of Kansas State athletics as a prolific hurdler for the K-State Track and Field team and later for the U.S. Olympic team.
“He was a terrific young man,” said Paul Younkin, a cousin of Riley’s. “I remember he spoke at a school assembly at our high school to encourage the students there to pick up sports.”
Riley was a three-time All-American at the 1923 NCAA Championships, taking first in the 110-meter hurdles, third in the 220-yard dash and sixth in the 220-yard hurdles. His time of 15.2 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles was a then-collegiate record.
“He would run in exhibitions in Great Bend,” Younkin recalled. “He would put a dollar bill on the hurdle and come so close to the hurdle when he jumped over he could swipe the dollar right off.”
After his career at K-State, Riley participated in the 1923 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, winning the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.4 seconds to earn a bid to the 1924 World Track and Field Championships.
Riley went on to compete on the world’s highest stage, winning the bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1924 Olympic Games. Riley returned to the Olympic Games again in 1928 as an assistant coach, while also serving as the team’s business manager.
Following the 1928 Paris Olympic Games, Riley put his engineering degree from Kansas State to use, winning first prize at the 1934 World’s Fair in architecture for a building he designed.
Riley would eventually settle in San Antonio, Texas, where he established a successful architecture firm and lumber yard and continued to meet the challenges of life head on, as he had done previously in the field of athletic competition.
“His mother said he would work all day, go home and have dinner, then go back to work until the middle of the night,” said Younkin.
Riley continued his labor of love until his passing at the early age of 41.
